Authorities in Spain believe that a young woman who has been missing since early this month found her way into a dumpster and was incinerated in a tragic series of events.
According to a Facebook post from Asociación Sosdesaparecidos – a group focused on providing information about missing persons cases – 24-year-old Agostina Rubini Medina disappeared on Oct. 2 in Palma de Mallorca, a resort city on the Spanish island of Mallorca. It said police in Son Reus were looking for her.
Per a report from Ultima Hora, Spanish National Police were carrying out an “exhaustive search” for Medina as of last Thursday, including interviewing witnesses. That report said Medina met up for a drink with friends near the Paseo Marítimo promenade and Santa Catalina, two popular leisure areas in Palma. She sent her mother a message via the What’sApp social media app at around 7 p.m. and took photos in the bathroom of a local establishment.
Ultima Hora also reported that Medina had been friends with Malén Ortiz Rodríguez, a girl who went missing in Son Ferrer 11 years ago, and even attended rallies for her. It said both went to the same primary school in the municipality of Calvià in Mallorca and were both of Argentine origin.
Another local outlet, Diario de Mallorca, reported that the National Police found some bone remains in an incinerator among tons of waste. According to the outlet, authorities planned to have the remains analyzed to determine if they belonged to Medina.
Additionally, Diario de Mallorca reported that investigators found footage of Medina recorded by a camera in the Place des Pont at 11:57 p.m. Oct. 2. Around 15 minutes later, a witness saw her bag and blouse on the ground near that area.
Reports said Medina was expected to go to a nearby bus stop in front of number 2 Andrea Doria and return home on the bus. However, when the bus passed during the early hours of Oct. 3, she was not on it.
As of this weekend, investigators believed that Medina voluntarily got into the dumpster to retrieve something and then became unconscious due to alcohol consumption combined with medication she was taking. They hypothesize that she died in a municipal garbage truck that transported the contents of the dumpster to the garbage incinerator on Son Rues.
Although no witnesses saw Media at the depot, tracking of her mobile phone indicates it was there in the early morning hours of Oct. 3. By the time investigators were able to uncover this tracking data, days had passed since Medina’s disappearance.
Inspector Ángel Ruiz said conditions they believe Medina faced would have been “inhospitable with life,” per a translated version of the Diaro de Mallorca article. He said authorities believe her death was accidental.