Two teenagers who were adopted from Eastern Europe are accused in the February 8 murder of their adoptive mother in Spain, who was found stabbed and gagged in a car with a bag over her head.
The teens, whose names have not been released, are accused in the death of Silvia López Gayubas, 48, who adopted them from Russia, according to People Magazine. The motive for the attack is not yet clear.
The teens, ages 13 and 16, “have been arrested for allegedly killing Silvia, 48, in Castro Urdiales (Cantabria),” according to El Espanol.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Older Teenager Is Accused of Cutting the Throat of Silvia Lopez Gayubas & Covering Her Head With a Bag
According to El Espanol, the teens pretended there had been a kidnapping.
“The teenagers were adopted and were from a country in Eastern Europe,” a translation of the El Espanol story reads. The mother took a photo showing a “happy moment” with one of her two sons, the site reported.
The teens called their grandmother to falsely report that they had been kidnapped but then confessed they had murdered their mother, El Espanol reported.
According to the site, the oldest son, whose name was given only as J in Spanish media, fatally wounded his mother “in the neck with a sharp object.” She was found gagged with her “head covered by a bag,” El Espanol reported.
The homicide occurred on the afternoon of February 8, El Espanol reported, adding that “the father was working and was not in the house at the time.” The younger brother is too young to criminally prosecute in Spain, the site reported.
The Body of Silvia Lopez Gayubas Was Found Inside a Car in Her Garage, Reports Say
Lopez Gayubas’s body “was found inside the car in her garage on Monte Cerredo Street, with a bag over her head and a stab wound in her neck,” according to El Diaro Montanes.
The teenagers were both detained, the site reported, after hiding in “the cliffs of Cotolino.”
On her Facebook page, Lopez Gayubas mostly posted photos showing her with a dog and inspirational phrases. There are not photos of the teens visible on her page.
According to El Diaro Montanes, a court official “has agreed to the closed confinement for six months of the eldest son (15 years old).” At first, police investigated the case as a kidnapping, the site reported, adding that investigators considered at first whether the teens were “possibly kidnapped, if the message they gave their grandmother before disconnecting the cell phone was true.”
For a time, there were “moments of great confusion. There were checkpoints throughout the town,” a translation of the El Diaro Montanes story reads, adding that authorities are still searching for the knife used in the attack.
El Diaro described the boys’ adoptive father as “devastated,” saying he could not believe the crime had occurred. The community is located near Bilbao, Spain, according to Metro UK.
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