Ana María Ortiz Madrid

Josean Izarra Castro Urdiales

Madrid

Castro Urdiales

Updated Thursday, February 8, 2024-14:44

  • Events They arrest the two minor children of the woman found dead and gagged in a car in Castro Urdiales

  • Castro Urdiales The 13 and 15 year old boys accused of killing their mother with a stab in the neck confessed the crime to their grandmother

The parish priest

Alejandro Castillo

saw

Silvia López Gayubas

just a few days ago, he believes it was last Tuesday, in the Sacred Heart church in Castro Urdiales (Cantabria). The 48-year-old woman arrived at the temple accompanied by her two children, as usual. "I greeted them as always, 'hello, Jon [the eldest son, 16 years old], hello E. [the youngest, 13], how are you?' 'Well, well'. Everything was normal, as always," The priest describes the ordinary nature of the meeting. There was nothing to predict, he assures, that the next day, Wednesday, they would allegedly end the life of his mother.

Silvia's body was found in the garage of the family home, located in an urbanization on Monte Cerredo Street, around Cotolino Park. The body was found in the back seat of the car and

had bruises and a stab wound

. "When I received the news, I thought 'what a calamity!' shocked

and bewildered by the event, like the 32,000 inhabitants of the town

.

The priest knows Silvia and her family well since she had been

a parish catechist

for at least three years. "I can't say anything to explain what happened. She was a normal girl, she came to mass on Sundays with the children, she gave catechism in the parish to the

little ones

for First Communion and Confirmation... It's something that has made us caught everyone unexpectedly,

something that overwhelms you

, something that is unthinkable for us," says the priest, who insists that he has never detected any abnormal behavior in the minors nor appreciated that they had any problems with their mother. "The whole town is overwhelmed,

the people of the parish do not stop calling me

, no one is surprised, we do not know the causes, the why. At school they behaved well, here well, on the street well...".

J. and E., aged 16 and 13,

were adopted

by Silvia and her husband when the children were very young. The priest has known them since eight years ago he was appointed parish priest of Castro Urdiales. The minors are originally from Russia and

biological brothers,

he explains. Silvia, who believes in being a parish priest, was not currently working. The deceased appears in several recent publications of the Official Gazette of Cantabria (Boc) aspiring to a position as a guard and another as an administrator in Public Health. The father, who was not at home when the events occurred, works in a metallurgical factory in Llodio (Álava).

The image that accompanies these lines, in which Silvia appears with her two children, corresponds precisely to the

First Communion

of the youngest of her children, E., celebrated on June 21, 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, in the church of Santa María by Castro Urdiales. Alejandro Castillo officiated. "Despite everything about the virus,

it was a very nice day

and the child was delighted," Silvia herself commented on the event in a Facebook post. "That's great, E. You're gorgeous!" added the children's father. "How beautiful my children! A beautiful day," the deceased insisted a few lines below.

Around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the days after the event, the first parents began to arrive at the doors of the

Menéndez Pelayo Catholic school

, where the two minors study. Although classes end at 2:00 p.m. and most students usually go to and from the center by bus, many parents preferred to pick them up in person and had brought forward the time to do so. Some talked to each other about what had happened, a couple hugged each other. The faces were very long and reflected concern.

"These are two well-behaved children,

they were not problematic

, they studied well and have never had any conflict," says Julia Roces, general director of the Educere Foundation, the entity that owns the school, who transfers the information to elmundo.es. The director of the center has transmitted it to him. "They are totally shocked and

they have already turned to psychologists

to be able to deal with what happened with their own colleagues, the students, since this situation is a very hard blow," explains Roces, who adds that the center is already in contact with

educational inspection.

and that the protocol that corresponds in these cases has been activated.