Family Seeks Justice for Circus Performer’s Tragic Death

The family of a victim is demanding a life sentence for the perpetrator:

The State Prosecutor's Office (FGE) has been compelled by citizens to reclassify an investigation from a traffic incident to a potential femicide case. Despite initial mistakes in the FGE's investigation, judicial authorities have begun the necessary procedures to determine the legal status of the possible femicide this week.

This case involves 26-year-old Blanca Amaya Mex, a member of a circus performing family, who was reported missing in 2022 to the prosecutor's office in Valladolid, Yucatán. According to her family, July 27 of that year was a day of tears and despair. Blanca, who brought joy to children and adults through her performances, was forced to stop performing due to the pandemic. To support her family, she found work in a village coffee shop, where she met Efrén C., a truck driver and the father of her fourth child. Blanca's death has left her four children orphaned.

Despite some arguments, life seemed normal for a while. On July 27, 2022, Blanca told her mother she was going on a trip with Efrén C., as she had done before. This trip, however, was planned by Efrén without prior notice. Blanca left her children with her mother, promising to return on July 29. When she didn't return, her worried family reported her missing to the prosecutor's office in Valladolid, Yucatán on August 2.

Their anxiety grew when they were directed to the prosecutor's office in Nuevo Xcan, where an incident involving a woman resembling Blanca had been reported. The family was led to the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) in the municipality of Benito Juárez. Their worst fears were confirmed when they identified Blanca's body in the morgue. The investigation folder CI/NUEVOXCAN/075/07-/2022 reported her death as a traffic accident on the Cancun-Valladolid toll road. However, the location of her body and the marks on it did not align with a traffic accident.

Faced with this, the family began a fight against the system. They hired a lawyer who presented findings to the department's investigators, doing what the FGE should have done initially. The family is now pushing for this line of investigation to be pursued.