FAMILIES whose children were murdered in high-profile cases were invited to Diana Quer's funeral yesterday (Wednesday) in a symbolic union to support each other and call for stiffer sentences and safety measures to ensure nobody else had to suffer in the same way.
Diana, 18, was laid to rest more than 16 months after she vanished whilst on holiday in A Pobra do Caramiñal (A Coruña province, Galicia) where she and her family had spent every summer since 2001.
Her body was found in a well in a disused warehouse on an industrial estate in the parish of Asados, belonging to the town of Rianxo, about 15 kilometres from A Pobra.
José Enrique Abuín Gey, 41, was remanded in custody without bail and is now serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in a massive drug-trafficking operation 10 years ago.
The mayors of A Pobra and Rianxo travelled down to Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) for the funeral, and Madrid regional president Cristina Cifuentes also attended.
Juan José Cortés, whose little daughter Mari Luz Cortés was murdered 10 years ago in Huelva, Andalucía, was at the funeral along with Antonio del Castillo, father of Marta del Castillo Casanueva, who was murdered in January 2009 aged 17.
Marta's ex-boyfriend Miguel Carcaño, then 20, killed her and has never revealed what he did with the body, meaning as there is no forensic evidence, he was sentenced to just 20 years in prison for what is believed to have been a gang-rape and cold-blooded killing.
Rocío Viéitez, whose two little girls were murdered by their father David Oubiel in Galicia, and Ruth Ortiz from Huelva, whose ex-husband José Bretón is serving a 40-year sentence for killing their children Ruth, six and José, two in 2011, also went along.
The mass for Diana at the church of Santa María de Caná in Pozuelo de Alarcón was, according to her parents Juan Carlos Quer and Diana Cristina López-Pinel, a homage to all those parents mourning murdered children and to the children themselves.
Juan Carlos praised the police for their dedication in solving the case and also the help of members of the public who gave their time to try to find Diana when it was thought she may still be alive, possibly kidnapped or having run away from home.
Mari Luz Cortés' father said his attending Diana's mass was 'practically obligatory' for him as a homage to his daughter and those of Antonio del Castillo, Rocío, Ruth and the Quer family.
He said he would 'carry on fighting his whole life' for killers to be given lifetime sentences.
Permanent custodial terms subject to periodic review, or 'life means life', was introduced recently by Spain's government, but opposition members have been calling for the law to be abolished.
Cortés said this would be 'a backward step'.
President Cristina Cifuentes expressed her 'absolute support' for lifelong prison sentences and would back the move up 'to her last breath', calling for those parties which sought to abolish it to 'reflect'.
“It's what the people want,” she stressed.
“There are crimes which are so cruel that they need a far greater punishment – and society needs to be protected from their perpetrators.”
Diana's post-mortem showed she had been strangled, refuting Abuín Gey's claims he ran her over accidentally in his car.
Forensic analyses are still under way to find out, if possible, whether Diana was raped after she was kidnapped.
Police are searching for DNA evidence in the warehouse and have agreed to the Quer family's request to a reconstruction of the crime.
In the last two days, further horrifying details have come to light – Diana is now known to have been gagged with duct tape, and a piece of underwear which may be hers has been found in the well where her body was dumped.
When she was found, she was naked, tied up with the reins of a bridle and attached to two large weights, and her jacket and handbag were discovered separately inside the well.
