The heinous murder of Dubraska Andreína Rivas has generated more questions than answers in the Venezuelan public opinion. Such a gruesome crime had never occurred in the country before according to the ONG Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV). What happened to that young mother of two teenagers for her life to have such a tragic ending? Why did a medical student need to sell eyes? Who is the buyer of those organs? How were these men recruited to commit that murder?
Yuliana Palmar // Special lapatilla.com
Andreína, as she was known by her relatives and acquaintances, had only been here two months after coming back from Colombia. This 31-year-old woman had emigrated, but things did not go well for her and she returned to Venezuela wanting to go back to study and work, according to her sister Mayra Betancourt.
“She wanted to improve herself and that is why she was looking for a job in the healthcare sector. She had met one of her murderers named José Gregorio Hernández a few weeks before. All this while she was carrying out the admission procedures at the University of Health Sciences, located in the “La Beatriz” neighborhood, Valera Municipality, Trujillo State. Meanwhile, she sold meat pies and empanadas outside her humble home in the crowded “Los Sin Techos” sector, near the San Miguel neighborhood, where Hernández lived.
“She was very happy, because she had started university studies. She wrote to me days before telling me that she was happy because she was studying,” said another relative.
Not knowing what awaited her, Andreína interrupted her workday on Monday, May 22nd, after receiving an invitation from José Gregorio Hernández (19) to go to the river, who on the way asked her to look for her partner, Kleiver Omar. Linares (21). It was the first time that Andreína had seen the latter. In fact, she met him minutes before she was murdered.
Fatal find
16 hours after her disappearance, some people saw a body in the Motatán River and called the authorities. At first the event was handled as a death by immersion. However, the autopsy yielded a chilling result: she had surgically precise cuts made for the removal of her eyes.
This caused shock and alarm in the people of Trujillo. A crime with these characteristics had never been seen in this quiet state of the Venezuelan Andes.
The national director of the CICPC (Criminal Investigation Police), General Commissioner Douglas Rico, reported that the eyes were removed for later sale for 100 U.S. dollars. Although the original publication was edited, the information had already gone viral due to the gruesomeness of the crime and had been circulated through the different social networks and media.
After the crime was committed, the men took Andreina’s belongings to her house. They asserted that they did not know the whereabouts of the young woman, which caused her relatives to become suspicious from the outset and they began to search desperately for her.
According to the investigations carried out by the detectives, those involved in the homicide when ready to deliver the eyes, the buyer told them that he would pay through a mobile phone payment, but so far it is unknown if the payment was made.
Despite the fact that CICPC officials are diligently investigating details about this crime, so far the eyes have not been located. They hope in the next few days to obtain new clues to finish fitting the puzzle of the murder that keeps the people of Trujillo alarmed.
Deprived of liberty
José Gregorio Hernández and Kleiber Omar Linares, who have no criminal or misdemeanor record, were deprived of their liberty. The control court ratified the measure at the presentation hearing. The 12th prosecutor of the Trujillo State Public Ministry charged them with homicide. Both subjects must remain in the cells of the Coordination for Homicide Investigations of the CICPC of the Municipal Delegation of Valera for at least 45 days until the date of the preliminary hearing.
The investigations continue and the CICPC remains in search for the buyer of the organs, although they already have more clues about the events, they have not given further details so as not to hinder the investigations.
The victim had a sentimental partner who was also investigated. However, security cameras showed that he did not leave his work post at the time Andreína’s murder occurred. So far there is no indication that links him to the death of the woman.
Another of the hypotheses that is handled is that these organs were going to be delivered for acts of witchcraft. Although they have not ruled out any motive, secrecy grows within the authorities, while the people of Trujillo demand answers about this event that everyone is talking and worried about.
Family members demand justice
Among the relatives of the victim, confusion and questions reign: Why was Andreína the one murdered? Are there more people at risk? Where’s the organ buyer? These are some of their concerns. They demand that a thorough investigation be carried out and that those behind the murder be captured. Such an act cannot go unpunished, they pointed out.
“That man was going to sell her eyes for 100 dollars, since he wanted to leave the country, and someone told him to look for that amount and with that he could get to Cúcuta (Colombia),” the relatives said.
Antonio Rivas, Andreína’s father, through a video recorded in Peru, demands that the CICPC do justice regarding these events. He affirmed that whoever has information about what happened to Dubraska Andreína can communicate with the relatives to provide information that leads to the clarification of this fateful event.
The focus of attention is on the CICPC. Citizens hope that they may find the buyer and can determine: if it is an organ trafficking network; there are more young people in danger of being captured by criminals; or if it was simply an isolated event.
Jhony Humbría, coordinator of the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV) in Trujillo State, said that in May the levels of violence increased.
The discovery of the young Andreína Rivas in the Motatán River and the fact that her eyes were removed represents in itself a very delicate and novel event in the region, since one could be talking about organ trafficking in Trujillo. The OVV continues to monitor this fact, which is unprecedented in this Andean state or any other state of the country.