After more than four hours of searching, security and emergency personnel have managed to recover the human remains of a woman this Monday in a difficult-to-access area of Punta de Gayo, in the municipality of Haría. The notice was given by a neighbor, who was touring the area and came across this sad finding.
At first, the arrival of the helicopter was awaited to start the search, but it was unable to locate the area. Finally, it was the neighbor who accompanied the emergency personnel on foot to show them the area. Once there, they gave instructions to the helicopter, which approached the place and took charge of the body, until taking it to the area where the police cordon has been deployed.
The first hypothesis that is being considered is that the body corresponds to that of a tourist who disappeared almost a year and a half ago in Lanzarote, since she was last seen in that area of the island, when she was hiking. In addition, the footwear and clothing would match those of the missing woman, as well as an accessory she wore on her wrist.
No news since 2011
Margaret Holt disappeared on December 23, 2011 on the island and has not been heard from since. The woman, a 65-year-old British tourist, was last seen in the vicinity of the La Corona Volcano, around 5:00 p.m. that day. Unable to locate her for days, her relatives traveled to the island and filed a complaint with the Civil Guard.
At that time, a search operation was launched in the north of the island, which included up to two helicopters. "That area would have been passed 200, 300 or 400 times," the manager of the Security and Emergency Consortium of the Cabildo, Enrique Espinosa, told La Voz this Monday, referring to the place where the human remains of a woman have been found today.
Espinosa acknowledges that "the possibility that it is her is quite high", since it is the only disappearance that appears in that area, and explains that she may not have been located at the time because it is an "inaccessible" area. "The person who found her is used to moving around those places, because they are dedicated to fishing around there and are specialists, but they are very dangerous areas," said the manager of the Consortium.
Another precedent in the 70s
The mayor of Haría, José Torres Stinga, who has been present in the area during the recovery of the body, also believes that it could be this tourist, considering all the matching data, although now we will have to wait for the results of the forensic examination.
"It is a difficult to access place. They have had to go down several times with the rescuers," said the mayor, who recalls that it is not the first time that something like this has happened in the area.
In the 1970s, two children were missing for two years, and their lifeless bodies were finally found by a goatherd who was walking through the area.
