Identification of Paraguayan Woman Seven Years Posthumously Revealed

After nearly seven years of being unidentified, the remains of Ainoha Izaga Ibieta Lima, a Paraguayan national, have been matched to her fingerprints through an international police effort, shedding light on her tragic fate in Spain.

A major police initiative has successfully identified a Paraguayan woman found dead almost seven years ago in a poultry shed in Spain. The woman, Ainoha Izaga Ibieta Lima, aged 33, was named by authorities on Thursday following the extensive efforts of Operation Identify Me, spearheaded by Interpol. This operation aims to identify numerous unidentified women whose remains have been discovered across Europe, and Lima is the second individual to gain an identity through this campaign.

Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza remarked that each successful identification brings renewed hope for the identities of other victims, emphasizing the importance of restoring dignity and offering closure to affected families. Lima's remains were discovered in August 2018 near a farmhouse in Girona, Spain, and she had no identification on her at the time. Witnesses around the area indicated they were unaware of her identity; however, a tattoo of the word "success" in Hebrew was found on her body.

In 2022, her case was included in the Operation Identify Me campaign, which saw the first-ever "black notices" issued to the public requesting information on unidentified bodies. This month, a breakthrough occurred when Paraguayan authorities matched Lima's fingerprints against those stored in their national database following their upload to the black notice.

According to her brother, Lima moved to Spain in 2013, but was reported missing in 2019 after several months without communication. Interpol has stated that the circumstances surrounding her death are still "unexplained."

Previously identified through the campaign was Rita Roberts, a Welsh woman whose family recognized her from a unique tattoo featured in a BBC report. The campaign continues to seek the identities of 45 more women whose remains have been discovered across various European countries, most of whom are presumed to be victims of homicide, aged between 15 and 30 years.

Interpol highlighted that the rise in global migration and human trafficking has complicated efforts to identify missing persons, as many are reported missing in regions outside their countries. The agency has published details of each case on its website, providing photographs of potential identifying items and facial reconstructions in hopes of further identifying more victims.