El Salvador authorities find body of woman who disappeared in March

By Nelson Renteria

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador’s authorities on Tuesday found the body of a woman who had disappeared in March, a case that triggered a widespread social media campaign aimed at pressuring authorities to conduct an investigation.

Last month, the discovery of a mass grave at the home of a former police officer brought the issue of femicides into focus in the Central American country of 6.7 million, which recorded 70 killings of women in 2020.

Flor Garcia had disappeared more than 100 days ago after leaving her home in the Cojutepeque municipality, near the capital San Salvador, to buy medical supplies for the dental clinic where she worked together with her dentist husband.

Authorities said her body was found near the Pan-American Highway, close to where she disappeared.

The attorney general said in a statement that it had initiated criminal proceedings against Garcia’s husband, Joel Valle, and ordered his arrest for allegedly having participated in her disappearance and committing violence against women.

His cousin, Francisco Valle, is being treated as accomplice in Garcia’s disappearance, the statement added.

Neither have been found guilty and Reuters was unable to reach them for comment. So far, they have not issued comments to the media.

Garcia’s had family started the #TodosSomosFlor, or #WeAreAllFlor, campaign on social networks, sharing photographs of the mother of two, who was 33 years old when she disappeared.

(Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)