The autopsy of Esther López indicates that she was run over

The director of the Civil Guard, María Gámez, attends to journalists this Wednesday at the Campogiro barracks (Cantabria). JUAN MANUEL SERRANO ARCE - EUROP (Europa Press)

The details of the autopsy revealed this Wednesday on the body of Esther López, the 35-year-old woman who disappeared on January 12 in Traspinedo (Valladolid), suggest that she was killed by an SUV, according to research sources, who affirm that the body, found on February 5 in a ditch near the road that leads to the town, had a broken hip and bruises compatible with the impact of a vehicle.

The hit-and-run was one of the hypotheses about the cause of death after the discovery of the body.

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Traspinedo's penultimate goodbye to Esther López

The investigations are now focused on finding a blue SUV related to that possible accident, although other lines of investigation are still open in a case that has resulted in an arrest, the sights set on several friends of López, massive raids between pine forests and a summary secret not exempt from leaks.

The general director of the Civil Guard, María Gámez, has assured this Wednesday in Cantabria that the armed institute puts “all its resources” to clarify the death “as soon as possible”.

"The Civil Guard has several open investigations, we are putting all our resources so that this investigation can come to an end and reveal who or who was responsible for Esther's death," said Gámez, who made these statements to questions from the press. after participating in an event in Santander.

It has not disclosed any progress in the investigation under cover of the fact that it is under summary secrecy, reports Europa Press.

It all started on the night of January 12, when the Valladolid woman was seen for the last time next to a restaurant in an access to Traspinedo (1,149 inhabitants).

Her family took five days to report her disappearance, since on previous occasions she had already been absent without giving any notice.

This circumstance, according to some agents related to the case, "difficulted the work because the first hours are the most important."

Under the premise of "forced disappearance", dozens of agents and hundreds of volunteers combed the Duero River, extensive pine forests and wells near the town.

The agents arrested a man from López's environment, who was arrested for six days and whose house was analyzed to the millimeter without the slightest indication of involvement being found.

The testimonies of some relatives of the disappeared, several of them also investigated, incurred "contradictions", the experts suspected.

But nothing in them helped to clarify the whereabouts of Esther López.

On February 5, a man walking along a ditch near the road leading into the town came across a body in a ditch less than two meters deep.

It was soon confirmed that it was Esther López's.

The discovery raised a big question: How could a body remain next to a path frequented by cars and walkers, during three weeks of intense search, without anyone noticing?

There were two answers: either the most wanted person in Spain had been in a relatively visible place for weeks without the agents and trackers having been able to locate him, or someone had moved the body to that area, with some vegetation but not hidden from the view.

Sources familiar with the investigations admit that this second possibility is still being contemplated.

Some people responsible for the investigation acknowledge that the ditch where the body appeared had not been tracked and that others were prioritized, in some abandoned railway tracks, some pine forests and the vicinity of the Duero River, because a signal from Esther's mobile had been located in them. Lopez.

The area also coincided with that of the detainee's home.

Among the relatives there is surprise that the body remained so many days without being detected in an area frequented by the residents of Traspinedo and nearby towns such as Santibáñez de Valcorba or Cogeces del Monte.

The low temperatures recorded in January and February, the shade of the ditch and the presence of some vegetation would contribute to the fact that the body was relatively well preserved and that the neighbors did not notice its presence.

However, some residents near the area insist that there are many foxes, wild boars or magpies that would have left their mark on a body left outdoors for 25 days.

The forensic studies on the corpse and the tests of the Civil Guard have reinforced the theory of the outrage, a scenario that began to gain weight as the murder began to be ruled out.

The agents were rehearsing what an impact would have been like, with its potential braking at different speeds, in the curve near the point where the body was located.

The results of this detailed observation have focused on a blue SUV as the possible cause of López's death, although other clues have not yet been ruled out.

The relatives of Esther López, buried on February 9, are still waiting for certainties, which they have barely had since they stopped hearing from her a month and a half ago.