GUATEMALA Dead body of a young woman was found by the side of a rural road. She had been tied up, and her head was completely covered with a black plastic bag, which had blocked her airways. At the time of discovery, her body was still warm and showed no signs of rigor mortis. Police estimated she had been dead for no more than 30 minutes. The cause of death was determined to be suffocation.
An hour and a half later, two more bodies – a young man and a young woman – were discovered in a ditch further down the road. They, too, had been tied up and suffocated.
It was later revealed that all three were friends. The first woman found was identified as Daniela. The man was Daniela’s cousin, and the other woman was his girlfriend, who was also Daniela’s best friend. All three had disappeared at the same time from the same area.
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- Daniela
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- Her cousin
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- His girlfriend
Further police investigation revealed that Daniela and her cousin were working as extortion collectors for the Busitos gang. Unlike in other cities, gangs in this area do not rely primarily on drug trafficking for income, but rather on extorting local business owners – everyone is required to pay. Gangs typically hire civilians to do this work, going from business to business to collect payments. Daniela had gotten the job through her connections with the gang via an ex-boyfriend. The third woman was reportedly not involved with the gang activity but was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It is unclear whether the money they collected was stolen or simply lost, but both of them were late with payments. This was the main reason for their execution.
Subsequent forensic autopsy revealed additional evidence that helped piece together a timeline and horrifying details of their deaths. Daniela died first, and her death was slow. She was literally tortured by oxygen deprivation in front of the other two. The killers were likely trying to force them to reveal where the missing money was. The other two didn’t die quickly either – it appears their deaths were intended as a warning to other extortion collectors.
Although Daniela’s pants had been pulled down, the autopsy found no signs of sexual assault. It seems this occurred either while her body was being moved, or it was done intentionally as a form of humiliation. Bruises on her knees suggested she had been forced to kneel on a hard surface for an extended period. Scratches on her hands showed she had tried to fight back. Her tongue had bite marks from the suffocation, and traces of urine were found on her underwear.
MORE PHOTOS OF DANIELA:
