EspañolOn Wednesday, Honduran police found the deceased bodies of Miss Honduras winner María José Alvarado (19) and her sister Sofía (23) on a riverbank in the state of Santa Bárbara, 124 miles (200 kilometers) outside the capital city, Tegucigalpa.
Leandro Osorio, chief of the Investigative Police, confirmed the identities of the two women. He noted that one of the main suspects in their disappearance is Plutarco Ruíz, boyfriend of Sofía, and he added that they were killed on Thursday, the night they were abducted.
After attending a birthday party at a resort in the outskirts of Santa Bárbara — the state capital — the Alvarado sisters were seen for the last time leaving the party in a champagne colored car. It had no license plate, and they were traveling with three unknown men.
The Honduran police conducted a search for the sisters after their mother reported them missing on Saturday. Then over the weekend, the police arrested four suspects in connection their the disappearance, including Ruíz and the owner of the resort, Aris Maldonado.
Local police chief José Casco Torres reported that, in addition to the arrests, they seized two firearms, both registered in the name of Ruiz. He believed that these men were the last two who saw the women the night of their disappearance.
María José Alvarado won the Miss Honduras beauty pageant in April, and on Wednesday she was set to travel to London in the lead up to the Miss World international beauty competition, which will take place on December 14.
The Honduran police did not state whether there would be any further arrests in relation to the death; nor did they suggest a motive for the crime. Investigator Osorio did, however, express concern that the crime scene had been covered up, and that those individuals were not apprehended.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world with 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.