Miss Honduras Is Target of Search

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/world/americas/miss-honduras-is-target-of-search.html

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MEXICO CITY — The police in Honduras said Monday that they were intensifying their search for Miss Honduras, María José Alvarado, 19, who has been missing since Thursday, along with her sister Sofía, 23.

The disappearance of the Alvarado sisters, just days before María José was to leave for London to take part in the Miss World contest, has captured public attention in Honduras, despite the wearying daily reports of violence in one of the world’s most murderous countries.

The sisters were last seen as they climbed into a Champagne-colored car to go to a party at a resort outside their hometown in Santa Barbara, in western Honduras. The car had no license plates. The women never returned to their mother’s house, and she reported them missing on Saturday.

The police said they had detained four people for questioning, including Sofía Alvarado’s boyfriend and the resort’s owner, local news media reported. María José Alvarado, who was finishing a technical high school degree, had appeared as a hostess in a popular television variety show.

Kidnapping has been ruled out as a motive because the family has not received a ransom demand, according to local newspapers. The director of the National Police, Ramón Sabillón, told the local news media that the police were following two different lines of investigation, but did not provide further details.