The last time Melanie Michelle Méndez Morales and Luis Fernando Hernández Ibáñez were seen alive was on the night of Friday, August 14. She had just finished her shift at a café in Xalapa when she left the premises with Luis Fernando; both were psychology students at the Universidad Veracruzana.
Their families lost contact with them in the hours that followed and began searching for them. On Saturday morning, the SUV they had been traveling in was found abandoned near the Río de los Pescados bridge, on the Tlaltetela-Coatepec highway.
The two young people were inside; both had been shot. The Veracruz Prosecutor’s Office is now investigating what happened during the time between their departure from Xalapa and the discovery of their bodies.
Melanie worked at the Luna Mía café in Xalapa. On the night of Friday, August 14, she finished her shift and left the establishment accompanied by Luis Fernando, who was reportedly her ex-partner.
According to the initial missing persons notices circulated on social media, the couple was traveling in a red Nissan X-Trail SUV with license plate YBS-861-C.
