Rosario Ponce López

Who is Rosario Ponce López?

Rosario Ponce López, born 6 October 1986, is a university student at the Agraria University in La Molina, Lima, Peru. On April 4, 2011, during a field trip to Colca Canyon, she and her boyfriend, Ciro Castillo Rojo became lost. She was found alive on April 13, 2011 but her boyfriend was not with her. After an intensive search a body was found on October 16 in a deep ravine in the area where Rosario had indicated Ciro was likely to be. On October 26, 2011 the body was officially determined to be that of Ciro and that the cause of death had been severe traumatic shock due to a fall.

According to the District Attorney of Arequipa, Rosario Ponce is the prime suspect in the case and additional interviews with the DA have been scheduled.

One of the facts of the case is that Ciro was walking without his sneakers at the time of the fall, which has aroused suspicions of foul play. Personnel from the Lima Branch of Homicides began searching for those sneakers on November 8, 2011.

The autopsy results indicate that Ciro did not die immediately following his fall, rather that he likely suffered for some 8 hours before death overtook him.