Maria Jose Alvarado Death Update: Miss Honduras, Sister Buried in Hometown
The search for Miss Honduras and her sister ended in tragedy. The two sisters were discovered murdered after disappearing days ago. However, it was no drug gang that murdered the women but one of the young women's boyfriend. The sisters have been buried in a small town next to their father's grave.
According to USA Today, Maria Jose Alvarado and her older sister Sofia Trinidad were buried in the town of Santa Barbara in the company of friends and family. The wake and funeral service were held in a tent outside their mother's home. A candlelight vigil was held Wednesday night at Alvarado's college where she was remembered by her classmates and friends.
Honduran police discovered the bodies of the two missing women on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. The reigning Miss Honduras, 19, and her 23-year-old sister went missing six days ago at a spa in the province of Santa Barbara.
Officers of the Honduras National Police say that Sofia's boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, who went with them to the spa, confessed to the murders. He led police to a riverbank near La Aguagua spa where he and an accomplice, Aris Maldonado, buried the women's bodies.
Ruiz confessed to shooting his girlfriend after seeing her dance with another man. During the ensuing argument, he shot her and then shot Alvarado twice in the back as she tried to flee. However, Ruiz had called the sisters' mother the next day with a different story, perhaps an attempt to throw off the police.
"Witnesses said my daughter left the spa with three men," the sisters' mother, Teresa Munoz, told reporters, according to an earlier AP report. "I tried repeatedly all night to call their cellphones without any response."
The police had in custody five people, Ruiz and Maldonado, as well as the spa's owner Ventura Diaz, his wife and daughter, according to La Prensa. The trio had gone to the spa to celebrate Ruiz's birthday.
Alvarado was crowned Miss Honduras in April and was to compete in London in the Miss World Pageant. The Miss World Organization's chairman, Julia Morley, released a statement expressing her grief.
"We are devastated by this terrible loss of two young women, who were so full of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of María José Alvarado & Sofía Trinidad at this time of grief," she said, adding that a special service with all Miss World contestants will be held on Sunday.
According to the BBC, police have secured the weapon as well as other evidence. Maldonado is also in custody. Media in Honduras has been fixated on the beauty queen, who was ready to leave for London this week.
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