Fernando, a five-year-old boy, was brutally murdered by kidnappers in Mexico who had loaned his mother £39 to pay her rent and she didn’t have the money to settle the debt
A five-year-old boy held hostage by a gang over a debt owed by his mum has been brutally murdered.
Noemi Gomez had borrowed 1,000 pesos, the equivalent of around £39, from the loan sharks in La Paz, Mexico, to pay her rent. But when she was unable to pay it back her son, Fernando, was snatched from her home on July 28 by the gang who were her neighbours. Tragically his body was later found, with a forensic report showing that he died from a blow to head, which corresponded to the use of a hammer.
It is understood that the mum had asked for the money from two women, whose names have only been released by authorities as Ana ‘N’ and Lilia ‘N’ and it is they who allegedly took Fernando, along with a man, Carlos ‘N’, as a supposed guarantee for the money to be returned. It comes after a mum who left work ‘abruptly’ was then found dead in a hotel room.
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Ms Gomez, who suffers from communication disability, reportedly went to look for her son where she thought he was being held captive but was threatened and attacked, while unable to rescue the youngster.
“The day she went to ask for her child, they tried to beat her because she couldn’t speak well,” said Maria Pascual, another neighbour of Noemi, in La Paz, told Nmas.
The group continued to refuse to release the child until the debt was paid.
The mum also sought help from the local authority where she tried to report her son as missing but she was referred to another office in Nezahualcóyotl which did not provide her with assistance.
Finally the case was taken up by an agency which specialises in domestic violence and the local community has been left angry at the way the authorities were so slow to deal with the incident as Fernando’s life could have been saved if they had acted quicker.
Instead on August 4, six days after Fernando was kidnapped, police went with Ms Gomez to the property where she felt her son was being held and inside they immediately detected a foul smell coming from black bags.
They discovered Fernando’s decomposing body and the investigation has since found that as well as dying from the skull fracture he had also suffered injuries to his arms, legs and chest. It was also revealed that he had not received food or water during the period he was kidnapped and Noemi’s brother Alfredo Gomez said the body was irrecognisable with identification necessary with DNA.
Mr Gomez also hit out at the way the case was handled by the local authorities. “My sister went to the council and then an office in Nezahualcóyotl, and she was ignored. They should do their job because this could have been avoided,” he said.
“He was a loving kid and all,’ Ms Gomez said. “He wasn’t to blame for anything that happened. I want justice for him.” All three suspects are facing kidnapping and murder charges.