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A 20-year-old pregnant Mexican woman was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by a couple who, unable to have a child of their own, sought to take one by force.
The suspected murderers, a man and a woman identified by Ministerial Police as Gonzalo “N” and Veronica “N,” allegedly made contact with Rosa Isela Castro Vázquez on social media and offered to provide her with baby clothes.
Vázquez, eight months pregnant, reportedly agreed to meet the couple, whose intentions appear to have been anything but beneficent.
The Daily Mail reported that footage of the initial encounter on Nov. 30 near an airport in the Mexican state of Veracruz shows the female suspect looking around furtively while speaking to the victim.
After this brief encounter, the victim reportedly entered a vehicle — the last time she was seen alive.
According to the Agence France-Presse, the suspects allegedly slashed open Vázquez and stole her baby.
An official who spoke to the AFP anonymously indicated that the female suspect had been unable to have a child herself and elected not to adopt but instead to tear out one life and snuff out another.
N+ reported that the suspects suffocated the victim after taking the baby.
Vázquez’s corpse was found at the “Los Arrieros” ranch in the town of Rancho del Padre, in the municipality of MedellÃn de Bravo.
The baby girl survived the grisly ordeal and was found in the couple’s possession at the time of their arrest.
The attorney general of the state of Veracruz issued a statement on Dec. 3 indicating that the newborn “was rescued safe and sound and is now receiving attention from the relevant authorities.”
The suspects, accused of kidnapping and femicide, have been denied bail. They face additional charges for failure to deliver the newborn baby to authorities or to her relatives.
According to the AFP, over 3,700 women were murdered in Mexico last year. 1,000 of those murders were classed as femicides, defined as the “intentional murder of women because they are women.”