Quito Femicide Investigation Intensifies One Month After Student Nathaly Mafla's Death

One month after her disappearance, the case of Nathaly Juliette Mafla Castillo, a 20-year-old student at the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, has taken a grim turn in Quito. What began as a search for a missing student has evolved into a femicide investigation, marked by ongoing inquiries, pending forensic analyses, and unanswered questions for her family.

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that change responds to a necessary protocol when the body of a woman appears and her death does not correspond to natural causes.

Mafla vanished on June 4, 2026. Her parents reported her missing two days later, prompting an extensive search involving family, friends, volunteers, and authorities across various sectors of Quito. Security camera footage was reviewed to reconstruct her last known movements. Tragically, her body was discovered on June 9 in a ravine in the La Vicentina area, with the investigation subsequently transitioning to focus on potential femicide.

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The defense rejects the thesis of suicide and maintains that there are elements that do not fit within the reconstruction of the case.

The family's lawyer, Paúl Vergara, emphasized that the shift to a femicide investigation is standard protocol when a woman's body is found and the death is not natural. He firmly rejects any notion of suicide, citing elements that do not align with the case's reconstruction. Vergara insists the investigation must explore all possible avenues before settling on a theory.

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The student left her phone with a friend before disappearing. That decision raised several questions for the family.

Central to the investigation is Mafla's cell phone, which she allegedly left with a friend shortly before her disappearance. The friend's initial absence from a summons by the prosecutor's office raised questions, though he later provided testimony. The defense highlights that the phone was returned to Mafla's father without prior forensic examination. Further doubts linger regarding Mafla's belongings, with her handbag reportedly found by cleaning staff within the university and handed over to lost property, rather than being discovered at the scene where her body was found.

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the defense questions why that evidence did not arrive immediately.