Gisela Mercedes Yurka, 41, and her son Gabriel Saru Ovejero, 7, were found dead on Friday in the bathtub of a room at the Hotel Ker in Retiro. The preliminary autopsy indicates the boy died from drowning and severe hypoglycemia, while the mother succumbed to a mixed mechanism involving self-inflicted cuts and drowning. Prosecutors are investigating a possible homicide followed by suicide.
On Friday morning, the manager of the Hotel Ker, located at Marcelo T. de Alvear 1300 in Buenos Aires's Retiro neighborhood, discovered the bodies of Gisela Mercedes Yurka and her son Gabriel Saru Ovejero in the bathtub of room 306 after they failed to check out as planned. The pair lived in González Catán, La Matanza district, where Yurka worked as a school supervisor and resided with her partner, the boy's father. She had recently applied for a loan to open a commercial premises.
From Thursday afternoon, family members had shared images on social media seeking information about their whereabouts. The preliminary autopsy report, conducted by the Forensic Medical Corps at the Judicial Morgue, states the boy died from drowning and severe hypoglycemia, with signs of death preceding his mother's. Experts are examining whether insulin was administered to him, as doses of insulin, syringes, and a scalpel were found in the room. Yurka was not diabetic, though close relatives were.
Regarding the woman, she had multiple cuts on her forearms and neck, deemed self-inflicted due to their location and direction, along with hypoglycemia and immersion asphyxia. There were no signs of external violence: the door was not forced, and the room was not disturbed, ruling out third-party involvement.
The case, labeled 'investigation of causes of death,' is handled by prosecutor Laura Belloqui of the Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 59. Toxicology tests are pending to confirm insulin presence. Meanwhile, loved ones remembered Yurka and her son on social media, calling him 'my life, my everything.' The leading hypothesis is homicide followed by suicide, though the investigation continues to clarify the sequence of events.
