Man wanted for questioning over murdered Arriate teen

MALAGA – POLICE investigating the murder of Arriate (Malaga) teenager are searching for a man in his late forties. The morning after the murder the stranger went into a restaurant on the outskirts of the town and asked for a number to call a taxi. When the owner told him he didn’t have a number he left.

A client in the restaurant noticed the stranger’s shoes were covered in mud, and that he wasn’t wearing a jacket despite the cold.

The body of 13-year-old Maria Esther Jimenez was discovered in the housing for a filter system of a private pool 200 metres from the town of Arriate the night after she was reported missing.

She had been beaten in the head and face with a rock.

It has also been revealed that two months before her death, she received two handwritten, letters in which the anonymous sender threatened to kill her.

Her parents thought it was just a prank, but they reported it to the police.

DNA testing is hoped to reveal more clues to solve the case, as a lock of hair and skin, possibly from the killer, were found at the crime scene, as well as a number of prints.

The investigation is currently focusing on half a dozen suspects who cannot offer convincing alibis for the night of her death.