The young Colombian Alba Lucía Castañeda Torres, 19, and her alleged partner of the same nationality, Iván Luque, 45, were murdered on June 8 by a group of men who followed them through the streets of downtown Mexico City on motorcycles. The woman had arrived only a couple of days before and was preparing in the company of her partner, who had also committed to setting up a business in the Mexican capital with which she could support herself. The Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) confirmed, a few hours later, that it had been “a direct attack” and that the review of the video surveillance cameras in the area of the Morelos neighborhood, in the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, was already underway to identify the aggressors.
The Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office has also confirmed, this Friday afternoon, that they maintain “lines of investigation” that are in development, and that, to preserve “their proper conduct and not affect due process,” they cannot give more details about the case. “In relation to the events that occurred on June 8 in the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, in which a couple of Colombian nationality lost their lives, the Prosecutor’s Office reports that it maintains an ongoing investigation to clarify the facts,” they said.
The attack has shaken the host city of the international tournament, which just a few months ago was announced as the most “video-surveillance” city in the world and after the victory of the Colombian team against Uzbekistan demonstrated that country in Mexico City. In addition to what was clarified by the capital’s prosecutor’s office, the authorities have not updated the progress of the case, while the young woman’s father, José Isidro Castañeda, has requested, from Colombia, support in the media and social networks for the transfer of his daughter’s remains.
According to the SSC report, a motorcycle was following the black car in which Alba Castañeda and Iván Luque were traveling for a few minutes, on one of the main avenues of the capital, Paseo de la Reforma, very close to the intersection with Ricardo Flores Magón, in the Morelos neighborhood, in the central area of the Mexican capital.
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The father of Lucía Castañeda, a Colombian murdered in Mexico, seeks help to repatriate her remains
In an interview with the Bogotá news Alert 104.4 FMon June 16, the young woman’s father said that Luque was a friend with “supposedly a lot of money” with whom his daughter had been in contact for two years; In addition, he said that also and so that they could spend some time on vacation. “I am very distrustful; I told her to be very careful, that a person does not come away with so much money overnight. And she told me no, that he was treating her well and that he was going to help her a lot, and she told me that they were also going to Mexico to help her start a business. I think that the person did want to help her in a good way, but one does not know the entanglements that the other person has, because no one has millions for free and no one travels from one country to another frequently. I do not know in depth the situation of that sir,” he said.
The young woman’s father also said that before his trip, a man came to his house to give his daughter the money for the transfer in an envelope. He said that the last messages he received from her were on Monday, June 8, around 11:00 a.m., when she told him that she was already in Mexico and was watching television. And then about 12 hours later, when he left the house, maybe for dinner. Then nothing, silence. He tried to contact her, but received no responses.
It was not until the following Friday, June 12, when a friend confirmed that her daughter had been killed. “At a traffic light, two motorcycles approached him from the sides and they shot them,” Castañeda described in the radio program.
Some local media in Colombia have identified Luque as Iván Darío Nieto Luque, alias Siberiana man with alleged judicial records in Colombia. In a video circulating on social networks, recorded by José Castañeda, he asks for support to face the process of transferring his daughter: “I have a maximum of 15 days, 20 million pesos (a little more than 100,000 Mexican pesos) to repatriate my daughter from Mexico; I cannot leave her there. No parent expects this to happen to their children.”
In a text message this Friday, Castañeda confirmed to this newspaper that he will have a video call to recognize his daughter and begin the repatriation process. “Only I feel the rigor, pain and discomfort, because they took away the biggest and most beautiful treasure I had. It’s hard and it’s not easy to assimilate,” he said.
