Missing tourist buried on Indonesia beach after ‘being murdered for £135’

Maria Matilde Mu Cazorla, 72, had been missing for two months but police made a harrowing discovery, weeks after thieves took her phone and texted her relative saying she was safe

Police believe a missing pensioner found buried on a beach was murdered^[1] for just £135.

Maria Matilde Mu Cazorla, 72, was last seen on July 1 at the Indonesian^[2] beachfront Bumi Aditya hotel in Senggigi, Lombok, where she had checked in weeks earlier. Six days later, a suspicious message, full of unusual spelling mistakes, was sent from her phone claiming she was in Laos, in south east Asia.

Weeks later, a friend reported her missing to police in her hometown of Sant Feliu de Guixols, Catalonia. Investigators in Indonesia opened an inquiry on 13 August, checking flights, boats and hotel rooms. On August 24, clothes and a rucksack belonging to her were found in a hotel waste area – but her phone, bank cards, and passport were missing.

READ MORE: UK heatwave: When soaring temperatures will return after tomorrow’s 25C blast^[3]READ MORE: ‘Crisps saved my life – they were a warning sign I had cancer’^[4]

Two local men, aged 30 and 34, were later arrested on suspicion of premeditated murder and violent robbery. Police say the suspects confessed and revealed the location of the body, as reported by NeedToKnow.

On Saturday, authorities discovered Matilde’s body buried in a shallow grave on Batu Bolong Beach, just yards from the hotel. Her friend Ana Jorba told local media: “They killed her and kept her in a room for weeks, then got nervous and decided to move her. That’s when they buried her on the beach, where her body was eventually found.”

The suspects – a current and a former hotel employee, the latter reportedly sacked over theft – allegedly sold her phone on the black market. Ana added: “They sold the phone on the black market and traced the buyer. He told the police who had sold it to him.”

With just £135-worth of local currency missing from her belongings, investigators believe Matilde killed for money after the suspects were unable to access her debit card. Police say they broke into her bungalow at 3am, strangled her while she slept, wrapped her in a sheet, and left her in a disused generator room.

Loved ones fear more people may have been involved, including someone responsible for hotel accounts. Ana said: “She came from a police family, and that’s why we suspect she’s getting off lightly.”

Matilde, a former flight attendant and yoga teacher from Ferrol, Galicia, often stayed at the hotel over the past four years. She lived in Palma de Mallorca but spent half the year travelling alone.

Her nephew, Ignacio Vilari o, said hotel staff had provided contradictory statements from the outset. He told local media: “The lies and slip-ups of the two or three people running the hotel show they are in on it.”