Anger is increasing over the murder of a 12 year old girl in Colombia.

Candelaria (Colombia), (EFE).- There is increasing outrage in Colombia as more information becomes available about the brutal murder of Sofia Delgado Zúñiga, a 12-year-old girl whose body was found in a sugarcane field in the municipality of Candelaria (south-west). She was reported missing on September 29, 19 days after her disappearance.

Brian Campeau, 32, was charged with the crime. After being arrested as the prime suspect, he confessed to authorities about the location where he had buried the girl’s body after killing her at a veterinary clinic, where he also sold food for dogs. Cats, birds, rabbits and fish.

Sofia Delgado left her home in the village of Villagorgona, in the Valle del Cauca department, on September 29 to buy shampoo for her pet.

The girl never returned home and an elaborate search began that day involving officials, family, friends and acquaintances and even casuals.

The girl’s body was found on Thursday and the remains were transferred to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences to establish her complete identity and conduct other studies which will give us more information about this brutal crime.

Colombia rejects crime

The investigation indicated that Campo, who was already accused of sexually assaulting another minor, may have murdered the girl on September 29, the same day, and hit her with a heavy object after locking her in the compound. . His wife, Evelyn Julieth Rodas Patiño, was arrested for the same crime.

According to local media, the confessed killer, who was today charged with aggravated femicide, alteration of evidence material and enforced disappearance, assured that she had nothing to do with what happened and that the evidence He was released due to lack of money.

All sectors of Colombian society have rejected the crime and even proposed reopening the debate on life imprisonment for murderers of children and teenagers.

“The girls and boys of our country do not deserve a message of solidarity from this social network when their rights are not respected or protected. Children deserve that their dreams never end. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro wrote on his X account today, “We cannot allow more news like Sofia.”

This wouldn’t be the first

Campo’s criminal history shows he raped another girl in 2018, but was released after serving conditions in the process.

Similarly, authorities are investigating versions that on the same day that Campo kidnapped and murdered Sofia, he also tried to kidnap another girl, who managed to escape due to the negligence of the alleged killer. doing.

“He told her to come inside that he was going to give her some dog collars, the girl came in, and when he came in he was going to close the door and the girl managed to get out. She told us, and when we saw that Sophia was not visible, we called those people from Cijín and filed a complaint. Why didn’t the police act immediately knowing that we had already given them signals,” said one of the cousins ​​of the minor who managed to escape, quoted by the newspaper El Colombiano.

audience

Although Campeau confessed to burying the body, apparently recent rains, ground moisture, and chemicals used in the soil for the sugarcane crop helped accelerate the decomposition of the soft tissues.

Furthermore, the skeletal remains were scattered by the action of predatory animals, making it difficult to determine Sofia Delgado’s cause of death.

On the other hand, forensic experts also faced difficulties as they found traces of calcification in the bones.

The arraignment hearing will be held in private this Friday, so it is not known at this time whether Campo will plead guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile, the girl’s home remains the place where dozens of people come to express their regret and leave flowers and white balloons as a sign of ownership for the girl.