After 9 days missing, 11-year old Candela Rodríguez is found dead

The mother of missing 11-year old Candela Rodríguez, Carola Labrador, identified her daughter’s body, which was found inside a plastic bag on the side of the Oeste Highway, in Morón.

“They killed my daughter!” she said after seeing her body, and suffered a nervous breakdown. Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli was also at the site, accompanying her. 

The body was found after police authorities were combing the area, and a witness assured she had found a bag containing the body of what seemed to be a young girl.

Morón’s District Attorney Nieva Woodgate confirmed that the body is of a young woman that has been dead for three days. 

He also said she was not wearing any clothes and her body showed signs of violence.

According to police authorities, only 48 hours earlier Candela’s mother had received several threatening phone calls, warning her that if she “didn’t return the money” her daughter would turn up dead. 

Governor Scioli flew to the area, located to the west of the city of Buenos Aires, accompanied by several Security Ministry members in order to meet with police officials who were in the area looking for Candela.

On Tuesday, a 48-hour campaign featuring many Argentine celebrities was started, in hopes it would raise awareness about the girl’s disappearance. 

Police officials had conducted several investigations throughout the country and had looked into 1,200 clues originated by many phone calls made by people who claimed to have seen the girl.

Until yesterday, however, no significant breakthrough had been made.

Forensic authorities approached the site after a man noticed “a small hand” could be seen hanging from inside a plastic bag. Since he knew of the girl’s disappearance, he immediately called 911 and alerted the police.

In the last few days, over 1600 policemen were searching for the girl and conducted over 300 raids in several areas of the Buenos Aires province. 

Forensic authorities will now investigate the reasons as to why Candela was murdered and identify the culprits of such a heinous crime that has shocked an entire country.

Residents in the Hurlingham area were seen in shock after the unexpected outcome. They had held several vigils and marches, demanding for her immediate appearance. 

The last time Candela Rodríguez was seen alive, she was heading towards a church a few blocks away from her home, where she was scheduled to meet other girl scouts who were waiting for her.

Police authorities were looking into several theories of her abduction that ranged from a human trafficking case to a revenge exacted on her father, currently in prison over a truck robbery.