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| Honduran Beauty Queen and Her Sister Are Found Dead 6 Days After Disappearing | Honduran Beauty Queen and Her Sister Are Found Dead 6 Days After Disappearing |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — María José Alvarado was to travel from Honduras to London on Wednesday to compete with some of the world’s most glamorous young women in the Miss World pageant. Instead, seven months after she was crowned Miss Honduras, the police there said that her body, and that of her older sister, had been pulled from the sand of a riverbank near where she disappeared. | |
| A self-described foodie who loved Prada and lip gloss, Ms. Alvarado, 19, worked as a hostess on a popular television variety show, and was pursuing a degree in computing at a local technical college. | A self-described foodie who loved Prada and lip gloss, Ms. Alvarado, 19, worked as a hostess on a popular television variety show, and was pursuing a degree in computing at a local technical college. |
| She and her sister, Sofía, had not been seen since last Thursday, when they attended a birthday party for Sofía’s boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, at a water park near their home in western Honduras. | She and her sister, Sofía, had not been seen since last Thursday, when they attended a birthday party for Sofía’s boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, at a water park near their home in western Honduras. |
| Mr. Ruiz was arrested Tuesday and the police told local news media that he is the leading suspect in deaths of the sisters. Their disappearance has riveted the country, where violence against women is all too common. | Mr. Ruiz was arrested Tuesday and the police told local news media that he is the leading suspect in deaths of the sisters. Their disappearance has riveted the country, where violence against women is all too common. |
| Honduras has the highest peacetime murder rate in the world, according to the United Nations, and an estimated 95 percent of killings there go unsolved. Ill-trained police forces and underfunded prosecutors are unable — and sometimes unwilling — to investigate killings. | |
| But in the case of the missing beauty queen and her sister, the authorities sent trucks filled with military police officers rumbling through the western township of Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas in search of the women. | |
| Violence against women has risen sharply in Honduras over the past few years: The number of women killed rose 263 percent from 2005 to 2012, according to estimates from the Violence Observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. | Violence against women has risen sharply in Honduras over the past few years: The number of women killed rose 263 percent from 2005 to 2012, according to estimates from the Violence Observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. |
| “Many girls die this way but because they aren’t famous, nobody pays attention,” said Salvador Nasralla, who ran for president last year on an anticorruption platform and who hosts the television show X-0 Da Dinero, on which María José had appeared. | “Many girls die this way but because they aren’t famous, nobody pays attention,” said Salvador Nasralla, who ran for president last year on an anticorruption platform and who hosts the television show X-0 Da Dinero, on which María José had appeared. |
| Widespread poverty, economic inequality and the spread of drug trafficking and gang violence have contributed to an increasingly savage environment in Honduras. Efforts by President Juan Orlando Hernández to fight mounting crime by creating a militarized police force have also contributed to an aggressive climate that further threatens women’s rights, according to a report by a coalition of Honduran women’s groups prepared for the United Nations. | |
| “The climate of fear, in both the public and private spheres, and the lack of accountability for violations of human rights of women, is the norm rather than the exception,” said Rashida Manjoo, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, after a July visit to Honduras. | “The climate of fear, in both the public and private spheres, and the lack of accountability for violations of human rights of women, is the norm rather than the exception,” said Rashida Manjoo, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, after a July visit to Honduras. |
| Sofía Alvarado, 23, was a teacher and had been dating Mr. Ruiz for about three months, according to the girls’ mother, Teresa Muñoz. The sisters shared a bedroom in their mother’s modest home. | Sofía Alvarado, 23, was a teacher and had been dating Mr. Ruiz for about three months, according to the girls’ mother, Teresa Muñoz. The sisters shared a bedroom in their mother’s modest home. |
| The director of the National Police, Gen. Ramón Sabillón, said at a news conference Wednesday that Mr. Ruiz had shot Sofía during an argument after she danced with another man at the party. | The director of the National Police, Gen. Ramón Sabillón, said at a news conference Wednesday that Mr. Ruiz had shot Sofía during an argument after she danced with another man at the party. |
| María José was shot twice in the back as she tried to flee, said General Sabillón, according to The Associated Press. | María José was shot twice in the back as she tried to flee, said General Sabillón, according to The Associated Press. |
| In a statement on the Miss World website on Wednesday, Julia Morley, the chairwoman of the pageant, said, “we are devastated by this terrible loss of two young women, who were so full of life.” | In a statement on the Miss World website on Wednesday, Julia Morley, the chairwoman of the pageant, said, “we are devastated by this terrible loss of two young women, who were so full of life.” |
| She said the pageant would hold a special memorial service with all of the Miss World contestants in London on Sunday. “We are receiving messages of condolences and support from our Miss World family across the world, who all share our sadness at such a tragedy,” she said. | She said the pageant would hold a special memorial service with all of the Miss World contestants in London on Sunday. “We are receiving messages of condolences and support from our Miss World family across the world, who all share our sadness at such a tragedy,” she said. |
| The police in Honduras said a second man, Aris Maldonado, was also arrested on Tuesday. | The police in Honduras said a second man, Aris Maldonado, was also arrested on Tuesday. |
| On Wednesday, the owner of the water park, his wife and daughter were arrested on charges that they helped cover up the crime, officials said, adding that they expected to make additional arrests. Leandro Osorio, the director of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told local news media that the police had found a gun in Mr. Ruiz’s possession that they suspect was used in the shooting. His white Toyota pickup truck had been used to move the women’s bodies and then sent to a nearby garage to be painted, Mr. Osorio said. | On Wednesday, the owner of the water park, his wife and daughter were arrested on charges that they helped cover up the crime, officials said, adding that they expected to make additional arrests. Leandro Osorio, the director of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told local news media that the police had found a gun in Mr. Ruiz’s possession that they suspect was used in the shooting. His white Toyota pickup truck had been used to move the women’s bodies and then sent to a nearby garage to be painted, Mr. Osorio said. |