A man with the last name Mejía Araya, who is the main suspect in the murder of Luany Valeria Salazar Zamora, will spend the next six months in preventive detention, while the investigation of the crime progresses.
The preventive detention was ordered on Wednesday by the Criminal Court of La Unión, Cartago.
So far, Mejía, 36, is the only one identified in this case.
According to the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), traces of body fluids were found in the house where Luany’s brother found the woman’s half-buried body.
The 23-year-old victim left her home Tuesday night, June 9, and did not return. On Wednesday morning, her mother, Ana Patricia Zamora Masís, received a message from her daughter’s cellphone, indicating that she would be arriving soon. However, with the passing of the hours, she did not appear and it was then that the family began to look for her.
Having no information on her whereabouts, on Thursday, they filed a missing person report.
They affirm that the OIJ never communicated with them and that they “owed them” since they provided data and photographs of the suspect.
However, the director of the OIJ, Wálter Espinoza Espinoza, stated the agency took the investigation seriously and acting according to the information they had, following up leads, but could not discuss their progress with the family, as is customary during such investigations, possibly tipping off the culprits.
On Monday, Lunay’s brother gained access to the suspect’s house that he had abandoned and noticing moved earth in the patio, began digging to discover a plastic bag containing the body of his sister.
By Tuesday, the main suspect was in custody, arrested in a house in Heredia.
The preliminary report indicates that Luany was stabbed seven times, causing her death, before she was buried in the shallow grave.
