Mexican college student disappeared after using ride-hailing service Cabify

Last week, Mara Fernanda Castilla , 19 , a Mexican college student disappeared after using ride-hailing service Cabify , a Madrid-based company that competes with Uber for ride-hailing business, in the city of Puebla . She was reported missing on September 8 by Gabriela Miranda López , her mother.

On Friday, September 15 , Mexican authorities said they had found the body of Mara Fernanda Castilla near a motel in the state capital, Puebla, and that the driver was arrested on suspicion of her murder .

In a statement, state prosecutors said they believed the driver, identified only as Ricardo N ., killed her at the motel after she had hailed a car with the service, and that they would be charging the man for Castilla’s murder.

According to the driver, Mara left the car before arriving at her home at the Fraccionamiento Torres de Mayorazgo .

However, according to the investigation, Mara Fernanda was at the bar The Bronx in Cholula , Puebla with a group of friends and at 5:00 am , the Cabify unit picked her up and she was never seen again.

A surveillance video showed that the Cabify unit did arrive at the victim's house, but Mara did not get out of the car. Instead, the car headed to the South Motel ( Motel del Sur ), located at 11 South Street ( Calle 11 Sur ), where the driver registered at 6:00 am .

The video surveillance from the motel showed that the alleged murderer left the hotel at 8:20 am on Friday, September 8 , taking the girl's body, a bedsheet, and a towel with him.

Yesterday, at approximately 1:00 pm , her body was found at the bottom of a ravine, wrapped in a bedsheet.

The investigation revealed that the driver assaulted her and presumably killed her at the motel.

On Twitter, State Governor Tony Gali wrote in Spanish: "With deep pain, I send my condolences to the relatives of Mara Castilla. RIP. The alleged perpetrator is arrested and he will pay for this crime.”

In a statement, Cabify Mexico expressed its condolences about Castilla’s death.

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