In a tragic development, Ecuador’s youngest Mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and her director of communications, Jairo Loor, were found dead in their vehicle in the early hours of Sunday, as reported by the Ecuadorian police to local media outlets. The duo were found in San Vicente Canton, with both having suffered gunshot wounds.
Garcia was initially reported missing on Saturday. However, she was later located using the GPS tracking system installed in her rental car. A preliminary investigation was conducted on the crime scene, and the Ecuador police informed the public via the social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), regarding their initial findings.
“After the first investigative procedures, it has been established that the shots that ended the lives of Jairo L. and Brigitte G. would not have been fired from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside,” clarified the Ecuadorian police. They have yet to share further updates on the investigation.
Notably, this incident marks the second violent crime against a mayor within less than a year. Last year, Manta’s Mayor Agustín Intriago was shot six times while visiting a construction site on July 23rd.
This escalation in violent crime coincides with the country’s ongoing state of emergency, which was declared by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, in response to an alarming rise in crime rates, largely committed by drug-trafficking gangs. The state of emergency was declared in multiple provinces of the country with the help of Decree No. 110.
The decree resulted in the suspension of the right of Ecuadorian civilians to assemble, implementation of a curfew from 11 PM to 5 AM, and permitted the intervention of the National Police and the Armed Forces throughout the country, along with all the detention centers. An article from JURIST reports that this state of emergency was extended for an additional 30 days due to “serious internal disturbance and internal armed conflict” on March 7.