The case of Debanhi Escobar's disappearance has shocked the state of Nuevo León and the entire country by the way the events happened and the inconsistencies presented in the statements of the 18-year-old's friends. More than 10 days since she was last seen, one of her friends has asked to stop the threats against her, as well as the messages of hate and defamation of which she has been accused.
Through a Facebook post, Yatziri Briones reported that despite having had a friendly bond with the young woman, they no longer coincided much and that even she had not even attended the party where Debanhi was allegedly abandoned by her group of friends. He also attached screenshots of the threats he has received from people who have meticulously followed the case.
“Debanhi is my friend, however, I didn't agree with her anymore and much less attended that party. My name has been mistaken for one of the friends who attended that party and because of that I have received constant attacks over the past few days. Like everyone else, I want it to appear as soon as possible,” Yatiziri Briones posted on his Facebook account.
In the face of the constant attacks, Yatziri Briones shared that she fears for her integrity and that in this regard, she will proceed to take legal action for defamation and harassment as she considers it unfair that she is attacked without knowing the truth.
Likewise, he invited anyone who follows the case of Debanhi's disappearance to inform themselves well before judging and sharing false information, since they do not know the harm they can cause.
Since the day of her disappearance, Debanhi Escobar's Instagram account has been managed by her relatives to disseminate the progress in the investigation, as well as to call for new search days and ask for dissemination of it. Regarding the statement from Yatziri Briones, the family confirmed that she was not at the party where Debanhi was last seen, so they asked to stop harassing her.
On Friday, April 8, Debanhi Escobar went out to have fun at a party in the Nueva Castilla neighborhood in the municipality of Escobedo, Nuevo León along with three of her friends: Ivonne, Alejandra and Jessari. According to the statements, Susana left the place alone in the early hours of April 9, as her friends had left earlier. After that, her whereabouts were declared unknown, so the search for the 18-year-old girl began immediately.
Six days after her disappearance, on 16 April it was revealed that, following suspicions from family and friends, the statements of the friends accompanying Susana had been called into question as the young women changed the statement they had given at the beginning of the inquiries.
Andrea Escobar, the girl's cousin, finished disrupting the narrative of Ivonne, Alejandra and Jessari, who in the first instance claimed that they intended to play a “joke” on Debanhi, abandoning her at the Fifth where they had attended the party. Shortly after, however, the story changed as the young women claimed that Debanhi had behaved aggressively, so they left before the meeting. They sent a driver, but for reasons — not yet clarified — he ended up leaving her alone on the road.
The Attorney General's Office of the State of Nuevo León (FGE) is continuing the relevant investigations to determine the whereabouts of Debanhi Escobar, however, the case has caused great indignation among the citizens of the country, so users on social networks have searched the accounts of the young woman's friends to assault them and blame them for her disappearance.
It is worth mentioning that the re-victimization of Debanhi's friends has distorted the real problem in their disappearance, under the premise that daily and under different contexts, women in Mexico continue to disappear. While sorority between friends is important to stay safe, a woman should be able to walk alone in the streets without the fear of disappearing or simply not being able to return to their homes.
Debanhi Escobar is still missing, but the hope that her family and friends have for finding her remains intact, even more so now that videos of the road to Nuevo Laredo have revealed that the young woman asked for help from a freight transport company named Alcosa, a place she entered on her own foot but she never went caught coming out. The authorities will focus investigations on that site, as it was the last place she was seen.
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