Yordano Ventura's Family Wants Investigation Into Whether He Was Robbed at Fatal Crash Site

The mother of ex-Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura wants to know if he was robbed at the crash site where he died.

Royals fans pay tribute to deceased pitcher Yordano Ventura.
USA Today Sports

Image via USA Today Sports/Denny Medley

Royals fans pay tribute to deceased pitcher Yordano Ventura.

On Sunday we learned some really bad news—Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. He was 25 years old.

As is the custom with stories like this, more developments have poured out as the week goes on. We learned today that Ventura's mother wants an investigation into whether her son was robbed at his fatal crash site. Her request comes after a pair of unverified reports were published on Monday saying that personal items, including cash and his 2015 World Series Champs ring, were taken off of him. So far Ventura's family is unable to account for that championship ring, though it isn't clear if he had it on him at the time of his death.

One of the media reports detailing the supposed burglary even claims that the pitcher was still alive at the time it occurred. According to Enseguendo, the pitcher was "[F]ound alive, but several people assaulted him instead of helping him, after suffering the fatal accident at kilometer 14 of the road Juan Adrián." Hall of Fame pitcher (and fellow Dominican) Pedro Martinez also lobbed similar accusations from his Twitter account, saying that he would be embarrassed for his native country if they didn't investigate.

If you want you can read each of those write-ups in further detail, check here and here, though only if you can read Spanish.

As for Ventura's family, his grandfather Raúl Hernández said that they just want closure. "We have no sign of how it all was," he said. "We want a clarification by the National Police. We are not very clear about that, we would like it to be thoroughly investigated.”

It should be noted that, while not necessarily incorrect, neither Enseguendo or Martinez appear to have any evidence for their claims, and also that the coroner who examined Ventura's body doesn't believe that he survived the crash.

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