Maria Jose Alvarado Found Dead: Miss Honduras Beauty Queen And Her Sister Shot To Death
As previously reported, Honduran beauty queen Maria Jose Alvarado has been found dead alongside her sister, Sofia Trinidad. The suspects in the two murders are Trinidad’s boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, and an alleged accomplice, Aris Maldonado. The men have been placed under arrest in connection with the women’s tragic deaths. Alvarado was the reigning Miss Honduras, slated to compete for the crown in the Miss World 2014 pageant.
Alvarado and Trinidad were last seen alive in Santa Barbara, Honduras, as they were leaving a birthday party last Thursday, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. The two young women were spotted sitting inside a car without license plates after the party. They would never be seen alive again. Their lifeless bodies were discovered dead, from gunshot wounds, in Cablotales village, near the River Aguagua, nearly one week after their disturbing disappearance, according to the New York Post. Alvarado was just 19-years-old. Her sister was 23.
Sofia Trinidad and Maria Jose Alvarado were buried close to the place where they were last seen alive. An unnamed witness has reportedly assisted authorities with the investigation, reported BBC.
National Bureau of Criminal Investigation chief Leandro Osorio confirmed that the bodies were in fact those of the two missing women.
“We are 100 percent sure that it’s them.”
Teresa de Jesus Munoz Torres, the mother of Trinidad and Alvarado, spoke with Honduran newspaper El Tiempo about her younger daughter’s aspirations to be a beauty pageant winner.
“Ever since she was a little girl, she loved watching the beauty parades and I always sat down with my three daughters to watch competitions on television. She [Maria] told me, ‘One day, I will be Miss Honduras.'”
Although Maria Jose Alvarado did fulfill her dream of becoming Miss Honduras, her chances of becoming Miss World 2014 ended when a gunman took her life and the life of her older sister. Alvarado was slated to leave for London to compete in the pageant just days after she and Sofia Trinidad went missing.
As a Miss World 2014 contestant, Maria Jose Alvarado posted a positive message about her native country online encouraging tourism to the murder capital of the world. Honduras has dubious distinction of the world’s highest murder rate.
“Our ethnic groups like the Tawakas, Lencas, Pech, Garifunas & Misquitos have made of Honduras a country with a cultural diversity rich in customs, gastronomy and religious beliefs. For this and more I encourage you to make of Honduras a travel destination, the best is yet to come!”
[Image via Miss World]
