A Paraguayan senator was found dead this Sunday in the waters of Lake Acaray, in the department of Alto Paraná (southeast), reported the authorities, who initially consider drowning as the cause of death.
The body of legislator Zulma Gómez, a doctor by profession and of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), he was rescued by firefighters about 20 meters from a pier located on a property of the leader, declared the prosecutor in charge of the case, Cinthia Leiva, to the Telefuturo channel.
The firefighters moved to the scene after the senator’s husband alerted the authorities about the disappearance of the political leader.
The search for Gómez began around 2:30 p.m. local time (06:30 GMT) this Sunday, after she was not found by her granddaughter on the pier where she had decided to spend the night after participating with supporters of her party in a meeting on the occasion of Friendship Day.
"For us there is no doubt that she died of suffocation due to drowning"Leiva stated.
The official added that there are no surveillance cameras on the pier and it was enveloped in fog. According to photographs broadcast by local media, on the site a mattress was found a pair of sports shoes and sheets.
The Public Ministry reported on Twitter, citing the prosecutor, that autopsy will be performed and other investigative proceedings.
A coroner who arrived at the farm explained to Telefuturo that the first evidence points to "mechanical suffocation by submersion". The official said that the waters of the lake have a depth of about seven meters in that area.
Hours later, coroner Pablo Lemir explained to journalists in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, where the senator’s body was transferred for an autopsy, that presents "injuries consistent with a fall".
According to the expert, the corpse has contusive injuries on the left side of the body, specifically on the heel, the lumbar region and the back of the skull, which he illustrated suggests that it is someone who slipped on a solid part, "goes scraping the back of the back and ends with a blow" in the head.
Lemir explained that the elements "naked eye" do predict that the cause of death is a "pulmonary edema in the context of mechanical asphyxiation by submersion".
He confirmed that, in addition, they will perform a toxicological analysis and seek to rule out a potential heart attack.
After knowing the fact, the president of the Congress, Óscar Salomón, declared three days of mourning in the Legislative. Also his party and political leaders mourned the death of the leader.
Gómez, 61, was a deputy between 2003 and 2008. Since that last year she has been a member of the Senate.