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Missing Mother Found Dead in Cusco After 12 Days; Ex-Partner and Son Suspected
🇵🇪 Peru /Crime & Justice

Missing Mother Found Dead in Cusco After 12 Days; Ex-Partner and Son Suspected

From La República · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A mother who disappeared 12 days ago in Cusco, Peru, was found dead in a septic tank.
  • Police suspect her ex-partner and their teenage son, who have since gone missing, are responsible.
  • The victim's family is demanding the case be investigated as femicide, citing past violence.

The tragic search for Rosa Candia Cárdenas, 36, ended after nearly two weeks when her family discovered her body in a septic tank on an abandoned farm in Cusco, Peru. Candia had traveled to Quillabamba to visit her 17-year-old son, who lived with his father, her ex-partner Ebert Castro Catalán. Her disappearance was reported on May 26, after she was last seen between the night of May 24 and the early morning of May 25.

Investigations by the National Police point to the ex-partner and their son as the primary suspects. Both disappeared after the body was found, remaining at large for several days. A key piece of evidence is a message sent from the teenager's phone to Candia's family, falsely stating she had traveled to Spain. Police believe this was a diversion tactic. The regional police chief confirmed that surveillance footage appears to contradict the ex-partner's initial claim of no contact with Candia before her disappearance. The victim's body showed severe head injuries.

The investigations of the National Police point as the main suspects to the victim's ex-partner and the common son they had.

— PoliceRegarding the investigation into the disappearance and death of Rosa Candia Cárdenas.

The discovery was made on property linked to the ex-partner's family, a location he knew well, according to investigators. Candia's sister, Karina, stated that the family had alerted police to their suspicions from the beginning and questioned the delay in the search. She also cited previous instances of violence and conflict with the ex-partner, urging authorities to treat the case as femicide, not simple homicide.

Under pressure from the family and advancing investigations, Ebert Castro Catalán surrendered to police and is being held under a preliminary arrest order. Authorities are continuing efforts to determine the son's potential involvement and whether any third parties aided in a cover-up. The family is demanding justice and the maximum penalty for those responsible.

We demand that the case not be treated as simple homicide, but as femicide.

— Karina CandiaThe victim's sister, expressing the family's demand for justice.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La República in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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