The Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil has found the skeletal remains of Francisca Cadenas, missing since May 2017 in Hornachos (Badajoz), buried in the patio of her neighbors Julián and Manuel González. Julián confessed to the murder, claiming a fit of rage after an argument over cocaine use. The brothers are in provisional prison for homicide and illegal detention.
Francisca Cadenas, aged 59, disappeared on May 9, 2017, in Hornachos, a town of 3,400 inhabitants in Badajoz. Nine years later, on March 16, 2026, the UCO located her skeletal remains in a pit under the back patio floor of her neighbors' house, Julián González (52) and Manuel González (57), less than 30 meters from her home. The body showed trauma to the skull, neck, and fractured ribs, broken hyoid bone—indicating strangulation—, had been dismembered and was semi-nude, covered with cement, tiles, pots, and a washing machine, according to the preliminary autopsy report and investigation sources cited by EL PAÍS and EL MUNDO. The judge ordered provisional prison without bail for murder and deprivation of liberty, without charging sexual assault for now despite wiretaps revealing Julián's sexual obsession with the victim, per the UCO and eldiario.es. In his judicial statement, Julián recounted that Francisca entered his house through a half-open door, saw him consuming cocaine while inquiring about his sick uncle, they argued, and he beat her in a 'fit of rage' until killing her 'instantaneously.' He claimed his brother Manuel was at Mérida hospital caring for their father and did not participate, denying his involvement in the crime. After the incident, Julián tried to move the body but gave up due to street activity; he hid it in the house, receiving Guardia Civil visits without detection, until burying it under the patio the next day. Wiretaps from February 2025 captured Julián's comments on Francisca's 'intimate areas,' such as 'She was hot, huh?', and his worry about 'that corner is giving me bad vibes,' the key clue for the search. Lawyer José Duarte attributes the concealment to 'panic' over the town's reaction, ruling out a sexual motive as it does not appear in the judicial order.
