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Venezuelan Beauty Queen, Telenovela Star Killed In Robbery

Monica Spear wears her crown after winning the Miss Venezuela title in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2004.
Leslie Mazoch
/
AP
Monica Spear wears her crown after winning the Miss Venezuela title in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2004.

The former Miss Venezuela and telenovela star Mónica Spear and her husband were killed after gunman opened fire during what police say was an attempted robbery in Venezuela on Tuesday.

The AP reports:

"It said the couple's 5-year-old daughter was in stable condition after getting medical attention for unspecified injuries."

"The family lived in the United States and was on vacation. Local news reports said they were awaiting a tow truck."

The 29-year-old Spear was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2004. After that she went on to star in many soap operas aired in the United States by the Telemundo network.

The network issued a statement saying they were "deeply affected and sorry for the terrible crime."

Spear, the network said, wasn't just a "great professional" but an "excellent person, who was always enthusiastic with a lot of strength and determination."

Venezuela's El Universal reports a homicide team from the capital of Caracas is headed to Puerto Cabello, where the shooting took place, to start an investigation.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.