 Many of Méndez's aunts had relocated to Italy and had married Italian citizens, and after divorcing Denny's biological father, her mother relocated to Italy and married an Italian man whom she met while he was on vacation in the Dominican Republic.Méndez, who had no formal training as a model, was studying to become a tourist guide before enrolling in the pageant.Her first venture in the beauty pageant circuit occurred when she was a candidate for in the title of Miss Dominican Republic 1996 on 16 December 1995, when she represented the Distrito Nacional and placed second runner-up.