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The savage violence with which three young women were murdered in Argentina, their torture, death, and dismemberment broadcast live on social media, has shocked a country that has one of the lowest homicide rates in Latin America.

The disappearance of Brenda del Castillo (20 years old), Morena Verdi (20) and Lara Gutierrez (15) a week ago and the appearance of their mutilated bodies this past Wednesday has highlighted the brutality of the drug trafficking networks that operate in the slums, but has also led to all kinds of speculation.

The triple femicide has also brought thousands of people to the streets across the country in search of justice for Brenda, Morena and Lara, and in rejection of the “political and media violence that loads us with hatred,” according to the organizers.

We explain what is known so far about this case.

Who were the victims?

The three young women disappeared in La Matanza, in Greater Buenos Aires, and their bodies were found kilometers in a house Florencio Varela, about 20 south of the capital.

Two of the young women, Brenda and Morena, were cousins, and Lara was a friend of the girls.

Brenda del Castillo was 20 years old and the mother of a 1-year-old boy.

“She was a good girl and none of the three deserved to end up the way they did,” Brenda's mother told several media outlets when the bodies were discovered.

Leonel, her father, told the LN+ channel that “Brenda was a person who did everything for her son. The boy is still waiting for her. Unfortunately, she is no longer here.”

The Argentine press reports that Brenda lived with her mother, her son, and her younger siblings in La Tablada. She had worked selling clothes on social media to support the family and at the 24-hour newsstand in her neighborhood, Ciudad Evita.

Her cousin Morena Verdi, also 20 years old,She also lived in Ciudad Evita,and resided with her mother and two younger brothers.

Lara Morena Gutierrez was the youngest of the group. She was only 15 years old and lived with her grandmother, according to Infobae, which indicates that she attended an evangelical church with her family on Sundays.

What is known about the crime

According to a security camera, the three young women got into a white van on Friday night the 19th in La Matanza and then disappeared from view.

Brenda and Morena's grandfather told the Argentine media that the three friends always used the Didi app to find a driver to take them to parties when they went out at night, but that day they didn't because someone was coming to pick them up.

According to Clarin, the three young women had been invited to a house in Villa Vatteone, in Florencio Varela, where they were told that they would be paid US$300 each to attend a "party."

"They were falling into a trap orchestrated by a transnational criminal organization," said Morena. drug traffickers who had perpetrated a strategy to kill them,” declared the Minister of Security of the province of Buenos Aires, Javier Alonso.

Security camera images show the three girls getting into a white Chevrolet Tracker in La Matanza that night.

Their families, not having heard from them the next day, raised the alarm.

The vehicle that picked them up apparently had a false license plate, and could be tracked by other surveillance cameras in various parts of Buenos Aires.

Finally, the tracking of the cell phone antennas of Brenda, Morena and Lara led to the house in Florencio Varela, which was searched on Tuesday.

The police arrived at the house late that day and found two people cleaning blood stains on the floor and walls and a strong smell of chlorine, who were arrested.

The Scientific Police began to inspect the house and The next day he found the bodies buried in the garden of the house.

The horror that took place in that house surpasses the worst nightmares.

The Minister of Security of Buenos Aires reported that the three were tortured and beaten to death, while their agony was broadcast live on Instagram and with a warning from the head of the criminal group: "This is what happens to those who steal drugs from me."

According to Alonso, the victims were subjected to a "session of murder and torture (that) was broadcast on social networks and apparently seen by 45 people who are part of an Instagram account."

The authorities discovered it because one of the members of that group confessed.

Their death was an act of "discipline for the girls, but also for different members of that organization,” which is dedicated to drug trafficking, the official stated.

Lara's left hand had five fingers severed, and the autopsy revealed that she had burns that looked like cigarettes on the wounds. In addition, part of her left ear was amputated and a cut on her neck severed the carotid artery.

Brenda's skull was fractured, which caused her death, and she had cuts on her neck. Once dead, her killers cut open her

Her cousin Morena also had blows to her face and a dislocated neck.

The three died the same night they disappeared, according to forensic experts.

Who killed them?

According to Alonso, the three young women used to frequent the Flores neighborhood in Buenos Aires, where they may have established ties to the criminal organization.

The motive for her murder is still under investigation.

"Something happened, they saw something, something occurred, they were used by others to make a determination. We don't know that yet. We need to clarify this because this is recent,” said the Buenos Aires Security Minister.

Regarding the hypothesis that drugs had been stolen, Alonso responded: “Anything is possible.”

So far, 12 people have been arrested, according to authorities.

Among them are the two people who were cleaning the house when authorities arrived and two others who were hiding in a nearby hotel.

The organization is allegedly led by a person known as Pequeno J or Julito, 23 years old and of Peruvian nationality.

Authorities consider him the mastermind of the crime, who allegedly hired hitmen when the drug theft, presumably cocaine, took place.

Pequeno J, whose whereabouts are unknown, apparently operates a gang that operates in the Villa Zavaleta neighborhood, where police carried out several searches and arrested eight other people.

Police in the capital describe him as "bloodthirsty" and believe he is a young drug trafficker who has recently begun to rise in the criminal world, according to Infobae.

What has been the social impact?

The disappearance of the girls caused great social commotion from the beginning, mainly due to the mobilization of their families.

They began circulating photos of the girls on social media on Saturday the 20th, when they did not return home or give any sign of life. On Monday, they called for a first march from the place where the girls were last seen.

On the same Wednesday, after the discovery of the bodies was reported, Thousands of people took to the streets of Argentina in different cities to demand justice for the femicide of Brenda, Morena, and Lara.

The marches were mainly called by the collective Ni una menos, which criticized the government of President Javier Milei: “State anti-feminism and austerity are lethal.”

“Drug trafficking knows no borders or jurisdictions, and also exercises all forms of sexist violence,” said the governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, on his politician, but demanded justice: "They took her from me and I want them to pay for everything they did to me. Today I saw the photo of her, of her bleeding hand. I want everyone to pay."