A shocked Honduras buried its Miss World contestant and her sister yesterday, after the latter´s boyfriend shot them in a jealous rage, according to police and media reports.
Mourners sobbed as coffins holding the remains of Miss Honduras, 19-year-old Maria Jose Alvarado, and her sister Sofia Trinidad Alvarado, 23, were lowered into the ground at a cemetery in the northwestern town of Santa Barbara.
The violence-plagued Central American nation has been in shock since police found the sisters´ bodies buried along the banks of the Aguagual River on Wednesday and accused Sofia´s boyfriend Plutarco Ruiz of killing them the night they went missing a week ago.
Maria Jose, who won the Miss Honduras crown in April, had been due to fly to London on Wednesday to compete in the Miss World pageant.
After forensic analysts in Tegucigalpa examined the sisters´ bodies overnight, authorities returned them for a morning funeral service in Santa Barbara, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the capital.
Mourners held a dawn vigil for the women Thursday under a white tent outside the family´s house.
According to Honduran media reports, police believe Ruiz, who held a birthday party last Thursday at a resort outside Santa Barbara, flew into a fit of rage when he saw Sofia dancing with another man.
He allegedly shot her in the head and then her beauty queen sister twice in the back.
Police arrested Ruiz and an alleged accomplice, Aris Maldonado, on Tuesday.
