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DNA Identifies Avilés Woman Killed in 1991 'Reyes' Case

A cold-case review using advanced DNA testing matched archived remains to the victim via her daughter's sample.

Overview

  • The Guardia Civil confirmed the identification on November 10, 2025 and informed the victim's family.
  • A systematic review of missing-person files in May 2024 led officers to seek new familial DNA, with the daughter's sample collected in June after the grandmother had died.
  • The National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Science in Madrid reanalyzed bones preserved since 1995 and verified the match using modern techniques.
  • The killing occurred on January 6, 1991 in Barros, where the 24-year-old was stabbed and buried in quicklime in a case known locally as the 'Reyes' crime.
  • In 1995 police detained a suspect after his partner reported the crime and circulated a composite image, but the remains were too degraded to identify at the time, and no new legal actions are reported now.