[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

An expecting mother was lured in by strangers from social media — and walked into every pregnant woman’s worst nightmare.

Rosa Isela Castro Vazquez of Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz was last seen on Wednesday, November 30 after apparently being promised hand-me-down baby clothes from a woman she had been chatting with online. The 20-year-old believed she was being helped out ahead of the arrival of her baby, but according to Mexican authorities in a Monday press release it was all a trap.

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After Rosa didn’t return home, her husband alerted police, informing them of the online exchanges with the social media user — which last included a plan to meet up near a local pharmacy, according to investigators. Security footage from the scene showed the eight months pregnant young woman being escorted into a car from there. She was never seen alive again.

Three days after the meetup, the poor young woman’s body was found by the Veracruz State Search Commission at the Los Arrieros ranch in Rancho Del Padre. Her unborn child had been gruesomely cut from her womb. Absolutely terrifying.

In a Monday Facebook post translated from Spanish, the Attorney General of Veracruz named two suspects in the disturbing case — though their identities were kept partially hidden: 

“The State Attorney General’s Office…reports that officials of the Ministerial Police arrested Gonzalo ‘N‘ and Veronica ‘N‘ as alleged perpetrators of [the kidnapping.]”

Apparently, when they were arrested, “they had a newborn minor with them.” When the suspect could not prove her maternity, the newborn was placed under the protection of the prosecutor’s office and the National System for Integral Family Development. Multiple local outlets have reported the baby was taken to a nearby hospital to be cared for and is doing fine, thank goodness. See more (below):

The same afternoon, relatives of the child discovered she was at the hospital, and shortly after, Rosa’s mother received a call asking her to confirm the identity of her late daughter. Miraculously, the baby girl survived the incident and is in the care of her father.

According to an official linked to the investigation via the ​​Agence France-Presse, the suspects committed the heinous crime because they wanted a child but could not conceive on their own.

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Gonzalo and Veronica are both being charged with kidnapping and femicide, and are being held in police custody. It is unclear at the time if they have retained an attorney or entered a plea deal: 

JUST IN: #BNNMexico Reports.

The Veracruz Prosecutor’s Office informed that Gonzalo “N” and Veronica “N” were charged with pre-trial detention for allegedly murdering Rosa Isela and stealing her baby. #Mexico #Crime pic.twitter.com/WTuqJs313D

— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 6, 2022

Rosa was laid to rest Monday in the town of Plan Del Manantial, according to Presencia. Murdered so a couple could pretend to be parents for a couple days…

What a completely horrifying case which has left a family destroyed and a child motherless. We hope justice is served to the fullest extent. Rest in peace to a beautiful soul gone too soon.

[Images via FGE]