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Agents from the National Commission for Security (CNS) confirmed to EL UNIVERSAL that one of the alleged kidnappers and murderers of the Spanish woman María Villar Galaz has been arrested.
Authorities report that only one person has been arrested so far and, without giving much information, that there are other suspects on the loose, but since this is an ongoing investigation they're not at liberty of revealing any further information.
39-year-old María Villar Galaz was married to the Brazilian, Cristiano do Vale, worked as an executive at IBM México's Consultancy Services Division, and had been living in Mexico for four years.
According to messages shared on social media by people close to her, on September 13, Villar Galaz took a taxi at the Patio Santa Fe shopping mall, across the street from IBM and was never seen again.
Her remains were found two days later in the Santiago Tianguistenco municipality in the State of Mexico.
Those close to her described her as being an incredibly smart woman who lived a very normal life and enjoyed traveling the country.
Her mistake was stopping a “street taxi,” which are notorious in many Latin American countries as being used to kidnap people. Prior to her murder, her kidnappers took her to two ATM's where she was forced to empty out her accounts.
Her husband and cousin, Gorka Villar, son of the president of Spain's Soccer Federation, frantically searched in all the morgues in Mexico City for Villar Gallaz.
Her family members were eventually contacted by the kidnappers, who demanded ransom and which the family paid, but still ended up murdering her.
In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL, Patricia Bugarín, coordinator for the National Anti-Kidnapping Department, said that federal authorities are asking the public for information on María Villar Galaz's murderers.
She also said that authorities are currently analyzing video footage from Mexico City's network of security cameras as part of their investigation.
