The community’s collective grief deepened when forensic experts confirmed that the young girl had been subjected to violence. What had once been considered a possible case of abduction or accident was now being investigated as a femicide — a term that has sadly become all too familiar in Mexico, where cases involving violence against women and girls have been steadily rising.
As detectives worked to piece together the final hours of Perla’s life, the investigation took an unexpected and deeply disturbing turn. Witnesses came forward to say they had seen her earlier that day in the company of a man — someone who appeared familiar to her, someone she likely trusted. Slowly, suspicions began to circle someone who, until that point, had been seen as a heartbroken father pleading for answers: her own dad.
