Inocencia Flores: The body of a woman was found wrapped in a blanket and canvas bag on the middle of the street. When the blanket was removed she had been severely tortured over an extended period of time. Her killer was arrested but didn't remember her name and even confused her for another victim
(I'm a big contributor to the Unidentified Awareness wiki and I am always on the lookout for international doe cases to share add there. So I figured I would share some of the Doe cases I've added to the Wiki onto this subreddit to help bring further attention to them. I'll be mostly copying my work and moving it over to this subreddit
If you know of any good international doe cases please let me know so I can add them to the wiki
To clear up some confusion, by international I mean cases outside the anglosphere entirely unless we're talking about African, Pacific Islands or Caribbean nations
I guess I'll include this brief message at the start of all my posts here.)
On December 13, 1977, at 6 a.m., a passerby found a canvas bag with human feet sticking out of it on the corner of Buenos Aires Street in Oruro, Bolivia. The police arrived and opened the bag, finding a dead body wrapped inside a green and blue blanket.
The body, belonging to a woman, was completely naked, and her face was covered in blood. Her hair was described as 'loose,' and she had been tortured. The decedent was covered in bruises, stab wounds, and even scars and lashes, likely from a whip.
The majority of the wounds were on the head and chest, with some injuries from a board on her back and legs. The pathologist counted 56 wounds total, 26 of which were stab wounds. Most of the wounds were inflicted 48 hours prior. The cause of death was a single blow to the head with a hammer, resulting in a 7-cm wound. The time of death was placed at around 2 AM and 3 AM meaning she had only just died. The pathologist estimated her age to be only 20 years old.
Pressure was placed on the police to make an arrest, as many were outraged and held protests over the murder.
Eventually, the police arrested 50-year-old José Leaño Perales for the murder.
The evidence against José was rather compelling; he had fresh scratch marks on both his face and arms and fresh blood stains on his clothing. A search of his home revealed more pairs of clothing that belonged to the decedent.
José had a history of violence and was alleged to "sell" homeless and "peasant" children (No, No source elaborates on what exactly that means. But I don't like the implications) and would be repeatedly abusive to any housekeeper that he hired. José denied any involvement and mocked and even threatened the police for suspecting him.
José's first court hearing would take place on December 23, and he finally confessed and told the court what had happened. The decedent was a housekeeper he had recently hired named Marcelina Francisca Gutiérrez, from Bolivia's indigenous community. He had gotten heavily intoxicated and killed her after he resisted an attempt he had made to rape her.
In January 1978, a woman showed up at José's house with a child. The woman was the real Marcelina Francisca Gutiérrez, who was still alive. She said she had moved to Oruro for better opportunities and got a job as José's housekeeper. José would repeatedly beat, abuse and rape her. After finding out Marcelina was pregnant, José fired her. Marcelina had returned to try to demand child support from José.
After Marcelina appeared and cleared up the misidentification, the police returned to try to identify the decedent. Her face was shown in local newspapers, but nobody came forward to identify her. The only lead was her clothing, which was found in José's house. This clothing was considered traditional, indicating that she likely originated from the valleys of Cochabamba or the Paria province. Thus, she would be a member of Bolivia's indigenous community.
José was convicted of the decedent's murder and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The maximum sentence allowed by Bolivian law.
While in prison, he acted violently and aggressively toward the other inmates, which ultimately led to him being killed in a fight with another inmate sometime in the 1990s.
In the nearly 50 years since her death, she would become a "popular saint" with many in Bolivia often making pilgrimages to her final resting place, some even leaving flowers. Somebody also donated a bench to the local park which was named after the decedent's pseudonym. The grave is where the name "Inocencia Flores" comes from.
Sources
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Inocencia_Flores (I wrote this article)
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inocencia_Flores (NSFW: The picture of her face that was shown in the newspapers)
https://www.elsajama.com/2022/12/la-santa-inocencia-flores.html?m=0 (NSFW: The picture of her face that was shown in the newspapers)
Other International Does
Bolands John Doe (Antigua and Barbuda)
The Stranger of Lipari (Italy)
5 Unidentified Does in Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Tokyo Station Jane Doe (Japan)
Bak Kheng Leu John Doe (Cambodia)
Beau Vallon John Doe (The Seychelles)
Gyeyang District Jane Doe (South Korea)
Islas Sisagas Jane Doe (Spain)
The Mysterious Blonde From Itu (Brazil)