The unanswered questions about the death of Mexican Maria Fernanda Sanchez in Berlin (2024)

Maria Fernanda Sanchez’s family and friends, along with dozens of volunteers dressed in white, gathered in Berlin on Saturday to ask for the 24-year-old student. A few hours later, German police announced that a body had been found in a canal in the capital. The family later confirmed that it corresponded to the young Mexican woman. In a brief statement, the Berlin police said about the death of the young woman: “According to the current findings, there is no evidence of third party culpability”. However, the circ*mstances have not yet been clarified. The discovery puts an end to two weeks of an intense search, in which 500 people have participated and more than 3,000 kilometers have been searched, but still leaves unresolved questions.

The disappearance of Maffy, as her friends called her, shocked the Mexican community in Europe. It had only been five months since Sanchez had arrived in Berlin, after graduating from the Tecnológico de Monterrey with a degree in Communication. After living in Querétaro, in central Mexico, the young woman was going to study for a master’s degree specializing in new media design at the University of Applied Sciences in Europe. A lover of yoga and music, her friends have remembered her all these days as a very cheerful and positive young woman, with many plans. Her parents noted that she was preparing for an upcoming trip to Spain.

From what has it is known so far, last Saturday, July 22, Sanchez was going to go to the big LGTB+ party in Berlin, the Christopher Street Day. However, the young woman finally decided not to attend in order to work on a university project. Shortly before noon, the student left her room in the student residence, located in the Treptow-Köpenick district on the outskirts of the capital, without anyone noticing her departure and left her cell phone on the bed.

The next day, her family was already alarmed by her absence. They used to have a phone call with Maffy every Sunday and she did not answer. Javier Sanchez, father of the Queretaro girl, said in an interview that the young woman lived on a first floor, whose balcony overlooks the street, and the door was open. In addition, people close to her told EL PAÍS that her room on Büchnerweg had been altered when the authorities arrived.

On Monday, Javier Sanchez and his wife Carolina Castañeda flew to Berlin. In those first days, Maffy’s friends organized to create an Instagram account (Find Maffy Berlin), which already has more than 24,000 followers, and search brigades to locate her. Photos of a smiling Maria Fernanda Sanchez went viral and search cards with basic information were translated into nearly 20 languages: she was 153 centimeters tall, had long brown hair, had tattoos on her arms, wore a yellow T-shirt and polka-dot pants on the day she disappeared.

It was only two days ago that Interpol had launched a search for the missing person. In addition to the 125 volunteer brigades, which had filled Berlin with search posters, the German police had used sniffer dogs and divers for canals, rivers and lakes. One of the canals the authorities claimed to have scoured is the Teltow canal in the Adlershof district, where this Saturday at 4 p.m. German time a passerby found Sanchez’s body near a bridge.

From the beginning of the search, the Berlin police pointed to a possible motive: “There are indications that the 24-year-old is under the influence of an exceptional psychological situation”. However, her family still wondered what the European authorities meant with that message. “What she told us was that she was very homesick,” her father Javier Sanchez told this newspaper last Thursday. The results of the autopsy are still pending.

Last July 14, Maria Fernanda Sanchez asked in a Facebook group called Latinas en Alemania if anyone knew a psychologist who spoke Spanish, because she was going through a “difficult time”. Maffy’s case has highlighted a pending issue for Mexican authorities in Europe: mental health care. Adaptation to different cultural codes, discrimination, lack of networks and lack of security in many cases can take their toll on young people trying to start a new life outside Mexico.

The embassy in Germany has reminded us these days that it has a free mental health serv9ce. “The normal thing is from time to time to get overwhelmed and feel bad. The responsible thing to do is to take time out and see specialists. The sooner the better. For ourselves and for our loved ones. We are just a phone call away: +49170 975 7763″, wrote Ambassador Francisco Quiroga. In the same vein, the Mexican Foreign Ministry has developed tools such as EscuchaMex, a free psychological support platform for Mexican citizens residing in France and Monaco.

“Laughing until it hurts, listening to the rain fall, having a nice dream, getting a hug”, says Maffy in a video shared by his friends, just before he starts singing: “It’s really so little that I need, I’ve never been fond of material things, don’t be surprised when I explain that I have a different kind of ambition, but don’t believe me, I’ll show you with the following example: I just need two sticks to mark the key, someone to inspire me and a little voice”.

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The unanswered questions about the death of Mexican Maria Fernanda Sanchez in Berlin (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Maria Fernanda Sanchez Berlin? ›

Authorities said the body of Maria Fernanda Sanchez, for whom Interpol had issued a yellow search notice, was found floating in a canal by a person walking along a bridge in Berlin's Adlershof neighborhood.

Who was the missing Mexican woman found dead in Germany? ›

Police in Berlin say they will carry out a post-mortem examination on the body of a 24-year-old Mexican student who was found dead in a canal. María Fernanda Sánchez had gone missing in the German capital, where she was studying for a master's degree, on 22 July.

Is Maffy dead in Berlin? ›

Berlin mobilized in search for 'Maffy'

German police on Saturday had found Sanchez's body in a canal in the Adlerhof district of Berlin. Her body was discovered by a person walking by.

Who was the missing Mexican student in Berlin? ›

Maria Fernanda Sanchez's family and friends, along with dozens of volunteers dressed in white, gathered in Berlin on Saturday to ask for the 24-year-old student. A few hours later, German police announced that a body had been found in a canal in the capital.

Was the girl missing in Berlin found? ›

An Irish woman who went missing in Germany has been found safe, her family have confirmed. Úna Joyce, from Gaoth Dobhair in Co Donegal, was located at a hospital outside Berlin. The 23-year-old was reported missing on Saturday night after failing to meet a friend.

What happened to Berlin and his wife? ›

That includes Tatiana (Diana Gomez), who eventually fell for Berlin's son, Rafael (Patrick Criado). Devastated, Berlin botches a jewelry theft and ends up getting arrested for the first time. His final scene in the show — which was, again a flashback — features the character cutting off his wife and son.

Does Berlin sacrifice himself? ›

Character biography

The police find out that Berlin's real name is Andrés de Fonollosa and that he is terminally ill during part 1. Meanwhile, he starts a coercive relationship with a hostage named Ariadna. In the final minutes of part 2, Berlin sacrifices himself so that the gang can escape, dying under police fire.

Is The Berlin Wall still alive? ›

Does the Berlin Wall still exist? Segments of the Berlin Wall still exist in modern Berlin, notably on display at the Topography of Terror museum, the Berlin Wall Memorial, and the East Side Gallery. Pieces and whole segments of the wall are also on display in museums all over the world.

Does Berlin still exist? ›

Berlin is the capital and chief urban center of Germany. Berlin was the capital of Prussia and then, from 1871, of a unified Germany. Though partitioned into East and West Berlin after World War II, the reunification of East and West Germany led to Berlin's reinstatement as the all-German capital in 1990.

Why were 43 students killed in Mexico? ›

Guerreros Unidos likely believed that some of the students were members of a rival gang known as Los Rojos. With that information, Casarrubias ordered his subordinates to kill the students. Investigators believe that a gang member known by his alias "El Chucky" or "El Choky" took part in the killings.

Who is Maria Fernanda Sánchez? ›

Missing Mexican woman Maria Fernanda Sanchez found dead in Germany. MEXICO CITY, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Police in Germany reported on Saturday that they found the body of a 24-year-old Mexican woman who disappeared in Berlin at the end of July and whose case has garnered widespread attention in Mexico.

Who is the girl that went missing in Mexico? ›

A 14-year-old Utah girl and two young cousins missing in Mexico for nearly two weeks have been found safe, and a man is now facing charges in connection to what authorities say was a kidnapping. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that they found Elizabeth “Ely” Gonzalez safe on Friday night in Mexico.

What happened to Ariana Berlin? ›

In 2001 Berlin suffered multiple long bone fractures and collapse of both lungs as a result of a life-threatening car accident.

What happened to Maria Hernandez? ›

Hernandez and her sister went to a Broadway show earlier in the evening, and she returned home around 7 p.m., sources say. Mackey and Moore allegedly entered the apartment some time after that and bound and gagged her on the floor, sources say. Police sources say Hernandez died of homicide by asphyxiation.

How many times has Berlin been married? ›

Berlin has been married 5 times, however none of them worked out. He describes these marriages as 5 times that he believed in love. He stopped believing in love because he felt that once a child is born, it becomes the mother's centre of attention and that the woman is no longer "sexy".

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