The autopsy on Esther López, whose body was found in a ditch in Traspinedo (Valladolid), has already clarified when and what she died of.
But not where, how, why.
And above all, who was responsible?
The report concludes that the 35-year-old woman from Valladolid was hit by a car, which has left no trace other than the wounds on her body.
The blow did not occur in the damp gutter of the VP-2303 where Esther was located, but in another place, but her body was always out in the open.
The report underlines that the woman was on the verge of an ethyl coma (3.21 grams of alcohol per liter of blood) and she had used cocaine.
The four coroners who signed the report agree that the immediate cause of death, which occurred in the early hours of January 13, was a "
shock ".
multifactorial”, caused by “polytraumatism associated with hypothermia and consumption of toxic substances [alcohol and cocaine]”.
The origin of the death of “accidental or homicidal etiology” is “run over by a motor vehicle at medium-low speed”.
These are the keys to the autopsy.
Cause of death: wounds, cold, drugs...
The woman suffered an impact "at the level of the buttocks" that caused multiple injuries, such as a broken hip [she had it almost rotated], head trauma, a cervical sprain, hemorrhagic infiltrates, bruises and dislocations... damage that "does not they have sufficient entity to cause death instantly.
The study endorses: "We consider that it is a hit in life, by motor vehicle, produced at medium or low speed, with the confluence in the cause of death of other factors, such as alcohol intoxication, cocaine use and hypothermia.
Would Esther López have been saved if she had received help?
“It is a certain possibility”, several doctors have replied.
The place of death: the track of stones and sand
The unknown that now occupies those responsible for the case is where Esther received the blow, equivalent to that of a fall from a height of between four and six meters.
“It cannot be ruled out that the place of the outrage was different from the place where the body was found,” warn the doctors, who clarify that if Esther López was moved to change her place, this was done “in the first hours after the death".
Sources of the investigation assure that wherever the body was, "it was always outside, not stored or protected", given the humidity conditions identified during the forensic examination.
The autopsy indicates that between the clothes and the skin of the woman from Valladolid, "dust, earth, sand, pebbles, stubble straw and vegetable remains" were found.
Conclusions of the autopsy report on Esther López.
The place of discovery: the 'sleeping' position of the body
The raids had combed through Traspinedo, but did not go to the point where the body was found on February 5.
The report indicates that the woman from Valladolid was lying face down in the gutter, with her right hand resting next to her head (and facing towards the town) and the other arm attached to her body on her trunk.
She had one cheek propped up, and her legs were together, only slightly apart from the knees.
This posture does not correspond to that of a body violently projected after being run over.
The researchers have also not found "remains of foreign materials that could guide in terms of contact with an object or surface", that is, traces of paint or glass, nor the action of a "blunt or sharp object".
The autopsy indicates that the body was in that ditch almost from the same night of the disappearance.
State of stupor due to alcohol and cocaine intoxication
The toxicological chemical analysis detects 3.21 grams of alcohol per liter of blood, when the maximum blood alcohol level, for example, is between 0.3 grams per liter for professional drivers and 0.5 for other motorists.
0.1 milligrams of cocaine per liter of blood was also detected, as well as metabolites related to the combined intake of both toxic substances (it had benzoylecgonine, the metabolite that is sought in drug tests, in the stomach, kidney and liver).
The alcoholic rate is so high that forensic experts point out: "The concentration of ethyl alcohol obtained may be affected by processes of endogenous generation."
Doctors consider a rate of between 2 and 3 grams of alcohol leaves the wearer in a stupor, on the verge of unconsciousness, and very close to an ethyl coma.
Esther, 35 years old,
Image of the curve where the body was found. Nacho Gallego (EFE)
Ruled out sexual assault and robbery.
The forensic study rules out both robbery and sexual assault, because the woman was carrying all her belongings and there is no trace of sexual violence.
Esther López carried her possessions with her and wore rings, pendants and a watch... "In one pocket you can see a folded white piece of paper, with traces of white powder", which she hands over to the Civil Guard, while in the other pocket of her pants wears “a folded black mask”.
The biological remains found next to the body have turned out to be Esther's own.
More information
Esther López bled to death hours after being run over, according to the autopsy
Sexual assault is ruled out, since there are no traces of semen nor are there "signs of violence at the genital level", details the study of the body, which was carried out at the Institute of Legal Medicine of Valladolid.
All these conclusions are the result, in addition, of the analysis of 32 body samples.
Likewise, the samples extracted from the nails (in search of the remains of a possible aggressor from whom the Valladolid woman had defended herself) have not given conclusive results, except to say that "no male DNA is detected."
Some unknown fibers in the nails
What has been found in the nails are fibers "that are not compatible with the fibers that make up the fabric of the victim's pants."
Also, on the right hand, a “poorly differentiated hair” was collected from whose anatomical region of origin no conclusions can be drawn.
The woman presented, on the other hand, what are called “washerwoman's hands”, that is, she had them completely wrinkled due to the constant action on them of water and humidity.
Minute of silence for the death of Esther López, the day after the body was found in Traspinedo. Europa Press (Europa Press)