Paraguay Catches Cemetery Killing Suspect After 8 Days
PARAGUAY · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —The country Paraguay, a landlocked soy and beef exporter between Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia, holds the lowest US travel-warning level.
- —What happened Police arrested Junior Ramón Delvalle Almeida, 30, the main suspect, at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday 6 October in Paraguarí department.
- —The crime Two young women were abducted after a rodeo festival and shot in the cemetery of Eusebio Ayala before dawn on Monday 28 September.
- —The victims Rebeca Martínez Aricaye, 28, was killed, and Carolina Raquel Aguilar, 32, was still in intensive care on Tuesday.
- —The other suspects Police said on Tuesday they hold five people, including Édgar Clodomiro Rodríguez Merlo, 28, and Alcides Osorio, 39.
- —For US visitors Washington rates Paraguay Level 1, and the central departments in this case are not among the five it flags for crime.
- —Still open Ballistic tests must still show who fired, and all suspects are presumed innocent until a court rules.
Police in Paraguay arrested the main suspect in a cemetery killing on Tuesday 6 October, eight days after the attack on two young women. Officers found Junior Ramón Delvalle Almeida, the last fugitive in the case, at a rural bus stop south-east of the capital, Última Hora reported.
The attack took place in central Paraguay, outside the five departments that the US State Department flags for crime. Washington still rates the country at Level 1, calling it “generally a safe destination for travelers”.
How the Cemetery Killing Unfolded
The two women were riding a motorcycle after a jineteada, a rural rodeo festival, early on Monday 28 September. At about 5 a.m. a white Toyota Fortuner SUV rammed them, and the attackers forced both into the vehicle, Última Hora reported.
About 20 minutes later both were shot inside the cemetery of Eusebio Ayala, a town east of the capital. Rebeca Martínez Aricaye died, and Carolina Raquel Aguilar survived with serious wounds.
Eusebio Ayala lies in the Cordillera department, and the cemetery killing drew wide coverage in Paraguay’s national press. Prosecutors first treated it as a femicide, then reclassified it as aggravated homicide, Última Hora reported on Thursday 1 October.
What Police Say About the Motive
Abel Cantero, head of the National Police homicide investigation department, set out the police theory of the motive in a radio interview. “Their aim was to kill the two girls,” he told the station 650 AM, as quoted by Hoy.
Cantero said the trouble began at the festival, when someone pushed one of the suspects, Alcides Osorio, alias Ka’i, in the chest. On the drive to the attack, Delvalle allegedly said he would not accept disrespect towards friends he had invited to his town.
According to Cantero, the group set out to find Martínez’s former boyfriend, the man in the festival dispute, and found the two women instead. Martínez recognised Delvalle and called him by name, and the attackers then shot the women to leave no witnesses, he said.
At a police news conference on Tuesday, officers called the cemetery killing revenge for a shove on the dance floor. Police now suspect that Delvalle fired the shots, but the head of the organised crime department said they still lacked “concrete proof”, NPY reported.
That differs from the prosecutors’ charge sheet, which named Rodríguez Merlo and a still-unidentified man as the gunmen. It cast Delvalle as the man who gave the orders, and both he and Rodríguez Merlo were charged as co-perpetrators, according to Última Hora.
The Manhunt and the Arrests
Rodríguez Merlo, alias Chule, whom the charge sheet names as one of the gunmen, was caught on the morning of Monday 5 October. Police found him at a guesthouse in Valle Pe, in the Borja district of Guairá department.
Before the capture, gunmen fired M4 rifles at officers from a white Kia Sportage, ABC Color reported. The suspects fled into woodland, and police then closed a cordon around Rodríguez Merlo.
After the attack, Rodríguez Merlo cut off the electronic ankle tag that monitored him, which led to an international arrest warrant. Its GPS records placed him at the festival, on the road where the women were seized and inside the cemetery, according to ABC Color.
Police detained José Quintín Velázquez Martínez, 44, after a clash in Borja on Sunday night, Última Hora reported. Ka’i, 39, was caught in woodland in Guairá on Monday.
Police said on Tuesday that Velázquez and a fifth detainee, Braian Matías Funes Galeano, 26, allegedly helped the main suspects hide and flee.
Delvalle, the last man sought, was arrested on Tuesday morning after an anonymous tip, Última Hora said.
“He did not resist,” said Emilio Alvarenga, an officer at the police station in Tebicuarymí, in Paraguarí department. He added that Delvalle was unarmed and cooperated throughout.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Delvalle denied any part in the attack. “At no time did I go near that girl, or even greet her,” he said, ABC Color reported.
He said he left the festival in a Kia Sportage, not in the white Fortuner that investigators link to the abduction.
Police also suspect Delvalle of leading a gang of robbers. He was wanted over an attempted robbery of a cash truck on 1 July, Última Hora reported.
Prosecutor Norma Salinas of the Public Ministry, Paraguay’s state prosecution service, is handling the cemetery killing case.
What It Means for You
The US State Department last updated its Paraguay advice on 19 August 2026, rating the country Level 1, “exercise normal precautions”. It asks for increased caution only in Alto Paraná, Amambay, Canindeyú, Concepción and San Pedro.
The department says criminal groups in those areas smuggle weapons, drugs and other goods along the northeastern border with Brazil. Cordillera, Paraguarí and Guairá, where the cemetery killing and the manhunt played out, are not on that list.
The same advisory bars US government employees from using municipal buses in Paraguay because of the risk of robbery and assault. Visitors who attend rural events at night should arrange known transport and avoid isolated roads after the event ends.
The manhunt ran in the same days as Paraguay’s municipal elections on Sunday 4 October, which elected mayors and councils nationwide.
What Is Not Known
Who fired the shots in the cemetery killing is not settled, since the charge sheet and the police account point to different gunmen. Ballistic tests on a seized weapon are still under way, according to police.
No ruling on pretrial detention for Delvalle had been reported by Tuesday evening, although prosecutors requested it when they charged him. Rodríguez Merlo stayed silent when reporters questioned him at police headquarters in Asunción, ABC Color reported.
Última Hora and NPY placed Delvalle’s arrest near Tebicuarymí, while Hoy, La Nación and ABC Color named La Colmena. Both towns lie in Paraguarí department, south-east of Asunción.
Carolina Raquel Aguilar, the survivor of the cemetery killing, was still in intensive care at the Trauma Hospital in Asunción on Tuesday. Doctors have not disclosed her prognosis.
More: Paraguay news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in Eusebio Ayala?
Two young women were abducted after a rural festival and shot in the town cemetery before dawn on Monday 28 September. In the cemetery killing, Rebeca Martínez Aricaye died and Carolina Raquel Aguilar was seriously wounded.
Who has been arrested in the cemetery killing?
Police said on Tuesday they hold five people. They name Delvalle, Rodríguez Merlo and Alcides Osorio as the main suspects, and two men as helpers in their escape. All are presumed innocent until a court rules.
Who fired the shots in the cemetery killing?
That is not settled. The prosecutors’ charge sheet names Rodríguez Merlo and an unidentified man, while police said on Tuesday that Delvalle may have fired, pending ballistic tests.
Is Paraguay safe for American travellers?
The US State Department rates Paraguay Level 1, its lowest warning, and calls it generally safe. It urges more caution in five northern and eastern departments because of organised crime and smuggling.
Where is Eusebio Ayala?
Eusebio Ayala is a town in the Cordillera department, east of Asunción. It lies outside the areas the US government flags for crime.
Sources: US State Department, Paraguay Travel Advisory, 19 August 2026; Última Hora, 6 October 2026; Hoy, 6 October 2026; Hoy, 6 October 2026; ABC Color, 5 October 2026; Última Hora, 5 October 2026; Última Hora, 1 October 2026; NPY, 6 October 2026; La Nación, 6 October 2026; ABC Color, 6 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error