Post by Admin on Nov 19, 2014 22:40:57 GMT
Police have found the bodies of Miss Honduras and her sister who went missing last week, a month before the Miss World contest in London. The bodies of Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and Sofia Trinidad were found buried beside a river in the mountainous region of Barbara, not far from where the two women were last seen and about 110 miles from the capital, Tegucigalpa.
"I can confirm that the Alvarado sisters were found," said Leandro Osorio, the head of the criminal investigation unit. "We also have the murder weapon and the vehicle in which they were transported to the site where they were buried," he added. The sisters vanished on 13 November after leaving a party in a car without a licence plate at a resort near the northern city.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the women's disappearance, one of whom was named as Sofia's boyfriend Plutarco Ruiz, whose birthday party they were attending. Ruiz was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and police seized a pistol and two vehicles as part of their investigation, police spokesman Jose Coello said.
Police had been scouring river valleys and mountains near the border with Guatemala in search of the missing women. Chief prosecutor Rolando Argueta had indicated his concern. "The more time that passes without concrete information, the more complicated the investigation becomes," he said.
Maria was crowned Miss Honduras in April, making her eligible to compete in the Miss World Pageant in London this December. She was expected to fly to London on Sunday, Nov. 16. According to an April report from the UN, Honduras has the highest homicide rate (90.4 people murdered per 100,000), making it the murder capital of the world.