Killing of elderly woman in Nariño: two months without suspects despite DNA evidence
Blanca Emerida Pardo Romero, 72, was found dead and naked in San Bernardo, Nariño, on 29 August. The investigation has made no progress after two months.
No arrests in case of woman killed in San Bernardo hamlet, Nariño
Two months and twelve days have passed since the killing of Blanca Emerida Pardo Romero, 72, in the Plazuelas hamlet of the municipality of San Bernardo, Nariño, and the investigation has made no progress, according to reporting by elpais.com.co. The victim was found naked a few metres from her home; she died as a result of blows received and was subjected to sexual abuse.
Authorities have interviewed residents of the area and family members of Pardo Romero, and also collected DNA samples from the body. Those samples were sent to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Medellín for analysis. However, to date no suspect has been identified or arrested.
Jenny Pardo Pardo, one of the victim's six daughters, lives in Bogotá and has spent weeks demanding results from authorities. "It is very difficult to find a suspect in the community; everyone knows each other, everyone knew my mother. I don't see anyone suspicious from around there; people went on with their normal lives, but it changed us. There are no signs that anyone is frightened," Jenny told magazine Semana.
The daughter warned that the case cannot go unpunished or be filed away. "The family's request is that they not take so long; for us, the two months and 12 days have been agonising. It distresses me to know the case could end up in a file, that the evidence is not handed over. I ask that they give importance to my mother's case," she said.
Jenny also raised the concern that her mother's lack of public prominence could be affecting the pace of the investigation. "I ask that they give importance to my mother's case. I know she is not a prominent woman in the country, but she is our mother, she is a woman who deserved to go on living and they took her life away in a way that we still cannot believe she is not here," she told the same outlet.
The events occurred on 29 August, but the case only became known publicly in October.
Source: Google News CO — Crime