At least 55 deceased have not been identified since March and April 2020 in the Laboratory of Criminalistics and Forensic Sciences, in Guayaquil, after the collapse of the mortuary and hospital system that left the hardest time of the pandemic.
Prosecutor Luis Augusto Rosero Méndez is in charge of the investigation that has been carried out since last year for the bodies that were lost. To that group of without names, there are six cases of ashes of bodies incorrectly identified.
As part of the investigation, there were initially 216 unidentified bodies.
Alba Maruri was part of the list. She was always alive and admitted to the Guayaquil Hospital, but her family had a chest with her supposed remains at her home, south of Guayaquil.
Even a procedure to literally resuscitate her in the Civil Registry documentation had to be done. For her family it was not only a miracle, but negligence.
Elsa Maldonado was given the ashes of her mother Emma Marina Aguirre and even made an altar for her in her home, but later she found out that she was buried in the Parque de la Paz cemetery in La Aurora.
Prosecutor Rosero said that the investigation is being reserved, but that some officials have been called to testify. However, he stated that approximately 63 procedures have been carried out that required judicial authorization, including exhumations, technical eye inspections and private hearings to extract information.
The official stated that the crime for which the investigation is carried out is that of “non-compliance with legitimate decisions of the competent authority” typified in article 282 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP).
Be the first to comment