The plight of the 18-year-old girl had made headlines around the world after a haunting last photograph showed her standing alone in the dark by the side of the highway after she was kicked out of her cab by the driver, who took the picture, following a dispute.
Authorities reportedly confirmed a body had been found in the pool area of the Nueva Motel Castilla on Thursday night, although officials have not confirmed whether the body was that of Escobar.
The girl’s distraught father, Mario Escobar, was at the scene to begin an anxious wait for answers, 13 days after his child had disappeared following a night out with her friends. Local news reports said the distressed man had shouted at police officers and agents as they carried out their grim work. Some 200 people—including authorities, volunteers and relatives—reportedly arrived at the scene to offer help or wait for news.
The motel is not far from the last place the teenager was seen alive.
A statement from the State Prosecutor’s Office, reported by local press, read in translation: “The Attorney General’s Office of Nuevo León reports that in the surveys of land near the place of disappearance of citizen Debanhi Susana Escobar Bazaldúa, in Escobedo Nuevo León, the investigating agents assigned to the case have located a lifeless body in inside an abandoned water cistern. At this time it is not possible to establish general characteristics of the lifeless person, which will be informed [revealed] at the conclusion of the work carried out by the criminalists assigned to the extraction.”
During an interview with national newspaper Milenio, the Nuevo León prosecutor, Gustavo Adolfo Guerrero, said he was unable to confirm whether the newly discovered body was that of Debanhi Escobar. He added that he expected forensic investigations to take up to three days before he could provide answers. However, he stated that the parents of the missing girl would be allowed to see the body to identify whether it was indeed Debanhi, but this information would not be made public by officials.
The body was discovered after motel employees reported a foul smell coming from an abandoned pool area, Guerrero said. The motel did not have security cameras capable of recording footage—they were simply for monitoring purposes—so there were no videos for investigators to review from the day Debanhi vanished.
The body will now be taken to the Forensic Medical Service to carry out an autopsy to establish the person’s identity and determine the cause of death.
Newsweek has reached out to Mexican authorities for comment.
Update 4/22/22, 5:39 a.m. EDT: This article has been updated to include comments by Nuevo León prosecutor Gustavo Adolfo Guerrero and to give further details about the discovery of the body.
