The Theft of an Infant's Body from the Esparza Family Tomb is revealed when a family visit to the cemetery uncovers a disturbed grave and an empty coffin. The discovery transforms suspicion into physical evidence: the child’s body is no longer where it was buried, and the grave has been opened despite the burial site’s appearance as a family tomb. The scene also unsettles the distinction between grief-driven fear and an actual crime, giving the missing body a material presence in the investigation.

Background and the Grave’s Significance

The child’s death had already been investigated. The forensic report established asphyxia as the cause, and the pressure mark on her forehead matched the shape and measurements of the nose of a teddy bear. White fibers found at the corner of her mouth came from the toy. Saliva traces on the child’s face and on the bear’s fur corresponded to the child and to Valentín Esparza; a third trace was associated with the bear’s powerful, nauseating odor, but its origin had not yet been established. These details place the later discovery in the aftermath of a death examined forensically, not an unexplained absence from an unmarked burial.

The earlier investigation had also documented that Valentín Esparza took his daughter’s body from a coffin. Photographs of the child, the bear, and the empty coffin formed part of the evidence assembled in the police office. The later discovery at the Esparza family tomb therefore extends an existing chain of disturbance around the child’s body: an earlier removal had been investigated, and now the coffin in the family grave is found open and empty. The supplied account establishes the theft from the tomb but does not identify who removed the body or explain how it was carried out.

Discovery at the Cemetery

Inés Ballarena and her daughter came to the cemetery to visit the child’s grave. The flowers placed at the burial had been gathered into a disorderly heap, as though someone had rummaged through them. The women alerted the gravedigger, who believed the grave had been forced and contacted the police. Inspector Iriarte called Amaia Salazar and asked her to come to Elizondo; the call interrupted her as she was arriving at Judge Markina’s house.

When Amaia reached the cemetery at night, Inspector Iriarte, Montes, Zabalza, and municipal employees were already there with the three women: Inés, her daughter, and the child’s grandmother. Despite the cold and the late hour, they were calm and waited while the officers examined the tomb. The grandmother explained that they had come to leave candles so the child would have light. The small flames at the foot of the grave set the family’s act of remembrance beside the signs of a violation.

The gravedigger found that the heavy stone slab had shifted at least five centimeters from its position. He demonstrated the gap with his fingers and insisted it could not have been left that way after the burial: he made sure slabs fitted tightly to keep water out and reduce the risk of breakage. Amaia checked the opening herself before ordering the grave opened. The displaced stone was thus more than a sign of disturbance; it contradicted the gravedigger’s account of how the tomb had been secured.

Opening the Tomb

The officers and workers moved the flowers aside and brought steel bars and a lever. The gravedigger’s method was to raise the slab slightly, place bars beneath it, and roll the stone across them. Once the opening was clear, everyone directed their lights into the tomb. Two old coffins lay at the bottom alongside the child’s. A metal ladder was lowered, and the gravedigger descended with a smaller lever, although he did not need it: the child’s coffin was already open.

The coffin contained nothing. The gravedigger called up to the others that it was empty, confirming that the disturbance was not merely displaced flowers or a shifted slab. The child’s mother cried out that the man had returned and taken their daughter, then Sonia Ballarena collapsed to the ground. The discovery supplies a physical basis for the family’s shock: the coffin itself was open, and the body was gone.

Immediate Consequences and Significance

The news reached Judge Markina while he was opening a bottle of wine. He told his caller that the Esparza family tomb appeared to have been violated and that the Foral Police were on their way. After listening to the response, he threw the telephone in anger; it struck the bottle, which shattered and spilled wine across the counter. His abrupt reaction provides a parallel image of the discovery’s disruptive force, while the account does not disclose what his caller told him or why he reacted in this way.

For the investigation, the empty coffin changes the status of the missing body. A disturbed arrangement of flowers and a displaced slab raise suspicion; the opened coffin confirms that a body has been removed. The event also makes the grave itself an evidentiary scene, with the condition of the stone, the flowers, the open coffin, and the presence of several witnesses establishing what was found. The discovery leaves the central questions unresolved—who took the child, when the coffin was opened, and where the body was taken—but makes those questions unavoidable.