From Debanhi Escobar to María Fernanda: the disappearances that shake Nuevo León

The alarm about the disappearances of women in Nuevo León continues, since in the first quarter of 2022 alone, at least 18 alerts were issued for the disappearance of young people in the entity, a list that includes minors between 12 and 15 years of age, of which at least 10 have been identified.

The last update was made on April 10, when the State Attorney General's Office reported that they located 16-year-old Jennifer Medina Patricio alive, who had been reported missing on April 2 of this year in the city of Monterrey, and was found safely in Navolato, Sinaloa.

A day earlier, on April 9, the agency detailed the location of Brenda Karina Torres Vázquez, accompanied by her two sons, Rodrigo y Luna, aged 10 and 4, who disappeared on April 7, in Monterrey.

As well as Irian Cruz Ángel, 20, who was in the company of his two-year-old son Oswaldo Fabian, both disappeared on April 4 in Juárez; and Irma Margarita Colunga Bravo, 34, reported missing on March 19 in the Valle Soleado neighborhood, in the municipality of Guadalupe.

In addition to Eimy Bazaldúa Marroquín and Lizde Grace Luna González, both aged 15, disappeared on March 21 in Montemorelos and October 1, 2021, in Monterrey, respectively.

However, two cases have shaken the state: that of María Fernanda Contreras Ruiz, a young woman who died on April 7 in a house in the municipality of Apodaca; and that of Debanhi Susana Escobar Bazaldua, 18, last seen on April 9 in the municipality of Escobedo.

María Fernanda Contreras Ruiz, 27, a graduate of Tecnológico de Monterrey, was reported missing on April 3 in La Alhambra neighborhood, Monterrey, when after meeting with friends she told her family that she was going to stop by Apodaca to accompany a supposed friend who wanted to buy a car.

Shortly before 21:00 hours, the young woman informed her mother that she was already returning home, but this did not happen, since the GPS signal from her cell phone placed her for the last time in the Ex Hacienda Santa Rosa neighborhood.

When they had no contact with her, on the morning of April 4, María Fernanda's parents asked the public for support in finding her; in addition to filing the complaint about the disappearance of their daughter and her last location to the Nuevo de León Public Prosecutor's Office. No security force came forward.

Through her Twitter account, the victim's sister, Fabiola Contreras, stated that her father spent almost 24 hours outside the house reporting to the authorities, “hanging around for three hours in the area where his cell phone was located.” “The worst thing is that the authorities didn't do enough, they were given the location of my sister's cell phone and they didn't go,” he added in the message.

That same day, on April 4, the main suspect in the crime was summoned to testify, but was released because, according to authorities, they found no evidence to hold him.

On April 6, the deputy prosecutor of the State Public Ministry, Luis Enrique Orozco, reported that the van in which he was traveling was located by elements of the State Investigation Agency.

It took three days (April 7) for members of the State Prosecutor's Office to enter a house in the same area that the family had already reported, finding the lifeless body of María Fernanda with severe blows to the head.

However, the young woman was not identified until April 10, when the agency confirmed that she was killed on the same day of her disappearance and stated that the discovery was thanks to “acts of investigation and not by reports from others”.

On April 12, the arrest of Raúl Alfredo “N”, the alleged feminicide of Maria Fernanda, arrested by Nuevo León security personnel in the town of Francisco I. Madero in Coahuila.

Until the afternoon of April 13, the Prosecutor's Office reported that Alfredo “N” will remain in informal preventive detention at the Social Reintegration Center No. 2, located in Apodaca, while it is determined whether he is linked to prosecution for the crime of femicide.

There is little information about Debanhi's case. It is only known that on Friday, April 8, the law student attended a Quinta in the municipality of Escobedo, located near the PGR, with two friends, who returned to their homes and left the young woman there.

According to the friends who attended the party with the young woman, they left the meeting first and ordered a taxi with a “trusted contact” for Debanhi, said contact works on travel platforms, but the work that was done was outside the platform, being the driver the last person who had contact with her.

The last image we have of Debanhi was taken by the driver. It corresponds to the early morning of Saturday, April 9, around 5:00am, and was sent to the young lady's friends.

As in the case of María Fernanda, family members have shared information about the girl's disappearance with the hashtag #BusquemosADebanhi and #NosFaltaDebanhi.

However, on Tuesday, April 12, authorities from the municipality of Salinas, in Nuevo León arrested a man for his possible connection to the disappearance of Debanhi Escobar.

Jesús N, 46, detained in Colonia Los Pilares, some 40 kilometers north of Monterrey, was singled out by several people for harassing women and trying to take them away.

So far, the Nuevo León Public Prosecutor's Office has not provided any information on this matter.

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