The air tragedy that occurred this Wednesday in Kenya hit close to home for one of the most well-known families in the Cuban community of Miami. Roger Edward Duarte, a 39-year-old businessman and husband of Nicole Valls, granddaughter of the founder of the iconic Versailles restaurant, died when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed in the northern part of the African country.
Duarte was one of the seven victims of the accident, in which José Alberto Suárez also lost his life, president and general manager of the Telemundo stations in Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers, as reported by Telemundo Miami citing information from Associated Press.
The aircraft, a Eurocopter EC130 B4 operated by the Kenyan company Lady Lori Helicopters, crashed at around 9:13 AM local time in the rugged vicinity of Mount Ololokwe, in Samburu County.
The helicopter was making a charter flight from the private reserve Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area and was transporting guests associated with the luxury travel company &Beyond.
None of the seven people on board survived. Among the victims were six passengers and the Kenyan pilot Josh Outram. The State Department confirmed that five of the deceased were American citizens.
A tragedy that affects the family behind Versailles
Duarte was married to Nicole Valls, Vice President of Operations at Valls Group and granddaughter of the Cuban businessman Felipe A. Valls Sr., founder in 1971 of the Versailles restaurant, on Calle Ocho.
The Valls family is closely tied to the business history of the Cuban exile community in Miami. Versailles transcended its status as a restaurant decades ago to become one of the main gathering places for the Cuban-American community, especially during political events related to Cuba.
Felipe Valls Sr., who arrived in the United States after leaving the island in 1960, is also associated with the popularization of the "ventanita," the street-facing service model where generations of Cubans in Miami have bought coffee, pastries, and croquettes while discussing current events in Cuba.
Mr. Valls passed away in November 2022 at the age of 89, but his descendants continued to lead the family business group.
Nicole Valls is part of that third generation and is involved in the management of Valls Group, which operates more than 30 establishments in Miami, including Versailles, La Carreta, Casa Juancho, MesaMar, and Casa Cuba.
Roger Duarte leaves behind a wife and two children
Duarte had developed his own path within the culinary sector of Miami.
At the age of 24, he left investment banking to found George Stone Crab, a business dedicated to the home delivery of Florida stone crab. The project earned him a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016.
He later participated in the creation of other gastronomic ventures, including My Ceviche and Zuuk Mediterranean Kitchen.
The businessman leaves behind his wife and two children. The youngest was born in November 2024.
The Duarte and Valls families reacted to the news with a joint statement in which they requested privacy to cope with their loss.
"We are devastated and heartbroken by the tragic helicopter accident that occurred in Kenya, which claimed the life of our beloved Roger Edward Duarte. The magnitude of this tragedy is impossible to comprehend, and there are no words to express the depth of our sorrow," they expressed.
"We respectfully request privacy as our families go through this terrible loss," they added.
Businesspeople and executives among the victims
The accident also left several victims linked to the business and media worlds in Florida.
Among them was José Alberto Suárez, 55 years old, a senior executive at Telemundo with an 18-year career at Telemundo and NBC, and also having family ties to Cuba.
Adam Hlavaty, co-founder of Mrkt Group and former vice president of companies such as Pollo Tropical and Benihana, also passed away, along with Henry Parra, an executive in the aviation software sector and a veteran of the United States Navy.
On the helicopter were also Michele Sensi-Contugi, director of the National Intelligence Center of Ecuador, and his wife, Stephany Hollihan, founder of the fashion brand Sensi Studio.
The Kenyan pilot Josh Outram completed the list of seven deceased.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has opened an investigation to clarify the causes of the accident. U.S. representatives also traveled to the site after the deaths of citizens from that country were confirmed.
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