VANCOUVER — A longtime friend of murdered Canadian graduate student Ximena Osegueda welcomed the news Tuesday that Mexican police have arrested five of the suspects involved in the killing.
“I just hope it is the right people, because they deserve to be caught,” said Christianne Odehnal, who had known Osegueda for more than 15 years.
“But it’s not a relief, because they took her life and we’ll never get it back again.”
Mexican media have reported that two men and three women have been arrested in connection with the robbery-related deaths of Osegueda, 39, and her 38-year-old boyfriend Alejandro Santamaria.
Three other suspects still remain at large, reports said.
Osegueda, who was completing her PhD at the University of British Columbia, was visiting the Mexican province of Oaxaca as part of her research. She and her boyfriend disappeared on Dec. 14.
Family members, fearful the pair had been abducted, raised the alarm and mounted a search to look for them.
Osegueda’s ex-husband, Jacy Wright, discovered their charred bodies half buried on a beach near the resort town of Huatulco in early January. Police said Osegueda and Santamaria had both been stabbed in the neck and set ablaze.