The case of Marisol Angelina Barría Rodríguez, who disappeared in 1997 and was declared a victim of homicide for which two people were convicted in 2009, is once again in the spotlight due to new versions that cast doubt on her death. Rubén Darío Campos, a lawyer linked to the victim's circle, indicated that the victim's relatives are willing to undergo the necessary tests to determine if Barría Rodríguez is still alive. Campos recounted that Barría disappeared in 1997 and they have been unaware of her whereabouts since then. Her relatives, he said, did not participate in the judicial process that led to the conviction of Eloy and César Ávila. According to his account, Barría's parents, who live in Las Minas de Herrera, were once summoned by the Public Ministry to identify remains that supposedly belonged to their daughter; however, they were bone remains that could not be identified. She resided in the Pedregal district in Panama and was in a romantic relationship with a military man who, at the time, was part of Manuel Antonio Noriega's security detail. Recently, Eliécer Plicett, a lawyer for Eloy and César Ávila, publicly stated that there may be records in the Electoral Tribunal associated with Marisol Angelina Barría, which, according to his version, would cast doubt on her death. However, Gilberto Estrada, national director of Civil Registration, assured that after an investigation, it was determined that no procedures related to Barría have appeared since 1985, nor has she been reported deceased by her relatives or any authority. However, no relative of the deceased appeared at this trial. During the judicial process, the defendants' defense lawyers criticized the investigation, pointing out contradictions in the testimony of Aída Ávila, who is detained for the crime of fraud. For now, the Penitentiary System decided to transfer the detainees from La Joyita to El Renacer, a center with less restrictive confinement conditions, while the defense requests a review of the sentence and house arrest. In a remote place, according to this account, Eloy and César Ávila sexually assaulted Marisol; subsequently, one of them hit her in the jaw, and the other cut her throat with a knife. During the investigation, Aída identified Barría from a photograph as the person found dead. The Electoral Tribunal has not confirmed the existence of recent records. The case On December 14, 1997, Barría was last seen alive. That day she attended a dance at the Jardín Club Unión in La Chorrera, featuring music by Manuel de Jesús Ábrego. Marisol was in the company of Aída Ávila, Eloy, César, and Germán Ávila, cousins of the latter. On December 23, 1997, the La Chorrera Municipal Prosecutor's Office located a body in an advanced state of decomposition on top of a hill near La Pesa. The Public Ministry's investigations led to the possible involvement of a group of people seen in the area on the day of the party. The statement given by Aída Ávila, collected by the authorities, revealed that around 1:00 a.m., she left the dance with Marisol, Eloy, César, and Germán, and they took a taxi towards La Pesa.
