Spain's Civil Guard has identified a 24-year-old woman from Avilés, Asturias, as the victim of a 1991 homicide using new DNA techniques. Her disappearance was reported in 1995, five years after last contact. The case was resolved by linking skeletal remains found in Langreo to the missing person.
The investigation started in October 1995 when a woman reported her daughter's disappearance, with no news since 1990. The complainant stated she had been caring for her granddaughter for five years. Initial inquiries by the Civil Guard yielded no leads, so the case was archived in the missing persons records, which are reviewed regularly.
Years later, agents connected the file to a news report about a woman's homicide in Barros, in the Asturian council of Langreo. This incident, known as the 'Reyes crime,' took place on January 6, 1991. The victim was stabbed and buried in quicklime. Langreo's National Police investigated and arrested a man after his partner reported the facts.
The detainee confessed to picking up the woman hitchhiking in Oviedo that night. According to him, she tried to rob him, leading to a struggle in which he stabbed her. He put her in his vehicle's trunk and drove to Barros, where he told his partner what happened. After confirming she had bled to death, they buried the body in quicklime.
The body was found in 1995, but deterioration prevented identification at the time, though a robot portrait was created and published in the media. Agents noted similarities between this portrait and a family photo of the missing woman. Recent analyses by Madrid's Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences confirmed the skeletal remains match the 24-year-old from Avilés at the time of the crime.