disappearance of a 13-year old girl, María Esther Jimenéz, who was found dead 24 hours later, having been bludgeoned to death with a brick.

Reporting on the news means that death and tragedy are all part of the daily menu. Frequently it is gangland killing – the settling of accounts, as the Spanish police refer to it. More often than not, these shootings involve British criminals operating on the Costa del Sol.
This week was rather different. I was writing about the disappearance of a 13-year old girl, María Esther Jimenéz, who was found dead 24 hours later, having been bludgeoned to death with a brick. Her body was discovered by a fireman searching for her in the pump house of a swimming pool.

As my deadline was not until later this week, I let the dust settle before going to the scene.

It turns out the girl I knew by sight. She lived next door to the car workshop I use and on a street I frequently park in.

The pool pump house is across the garden wall from the daughter of my one-time neighbour who lives with her husband and two young children, just yards from where the girl met her death.

She lived in a small village. During her last evening -- from sitting with friends in the bus shelter to asking a bar for a drink of water to finally meeting her death at the hands of her murderer -- she was never more than four minutes from her front door.

The village was promised an arrest or arrests within days. If only it were that simple. It will take time. Meanwhile there is a child killer on the loose. The people in the town fear for their youngsters.

On this occasion, because I know the village, know the people, knew the girl by sight, frequent the pizza restaurant where she planned to celebrate her birthday and knew the place where she perished - it is not a news story... is a shared tragedy. Far too close for comfort.:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.