Mexico City prosecutors seek man for questioning in case of disappeared girl found dead

Man sought for questions in death of Mexican girl

MEXICO CITY — Prosecutors said Thursday they were searching for a man believed linked to the shocking death of a disabled 4-year-old girl whose body was found in her bedroom in a Mexico City suburb more than a week after her parents reported her missing.

Mexico State Attorney General Alberto Bazbaz said an autopsy showed Paulette Gebara Farah died between five and nine days before her body was found in a search of her families’ luxury apartment that started late Tuesday and resulted in the grisly find early Wednesday.

That means the girl could have already been dead March 22, the day her mother reported her missing, telling police she put the girl to bed the previous night and found her gone in the morning.

Her body was found more than a week later wedged between the mattress and frame of her own bed. Prosecutors left open the possibility that it may have been moved back to the bedroom, which police, relatives and the media had tromped through for more than a week without noticing anything — until investigators detected a suspicious odor.

The girl’s disappearance set off a widespread search in which the family and supporters scattered images of the girl wearing a princess dress on billboards and flyers across Mexico City, which borders Mexico State.

Her mother, Lisette Farah, is being held as a suspect in her death.

Mexico City Attorney General Miguel Mancera said Thursday that authorities are seeking to question a man in the case. The individual — who Mancera refused to identify — was described as linked to the mother. Mancera refused to specify what, if any, relationship there was between the two.

Earlier, Bazbaz confirmed the girl died of “asphyxiation by suffocation” and said the case was considered a homicide.

Mexico City residents were outraged by the turn of the events, and the implication of the mother in the death.

“It stunned us. What lengths people can go to,” said Ulises Rodriguez, a 24-year-old office worker. “It is inconceivable.”