Dilip Kuner
THE family of a Mallorca pensioner who vanished in Indonesia almost two months ago fear she has fallen victim to a ‘textbook crime’ – and have blasted police for dragging their feet.
Maria Matilde ‘Mati’ Muñoz Cazorla, 72, was last seen on July 2 near the Bumi Aditya Hotel on Lombok’s Senggigi beach, where she had paid for a 20-night stay.
Since then she has failed to reply to calls, ignored messages from friends and family, and gone silent on social media – something loved ones say is completely out of character.
Her nephew and family spokesman, Ignacio Vilarino, says the circumstances surrounding her disappearance are riddled with contradictions, and he believes staff at the hotel know more than they are letting on. “The lies and inconsistencies from the people running the place are so obvious it leaves no doubt,” he said. “It eats away at us that no one has been taken in for questioning. They are clearly in on it.”
Suspicion deepened when, six days after Mati vanished, a text was sent from her phone to a hotel worker claiming she had suddenly travelled to Laos. But the message was riddled with spelling mistakes that relatives insist were ‘completely unlike her’. “We have no doubt that message was fake, a clumsy attempt at a cover-up,” Vilarino added.
The family have also criticised Indonesian police for moving too slowly. Only after weeks of pressure – including formal complaints filed in Madrid, Girona and through the Spanish Embassy – have investigators finally agreed to track Mati’s phone, something her relatives argue should have been done immediately.
Spanish media have seized on the case, highlighting the family’s frustration and dubbing the disappearance ‘mystery in paradise’.
National newspapers and TV stations have questioned why the probe is still at a standstill, while commentators have suggested the trail may already be going cold. The growing coverage has piled fresh pressure on Indonesian authorities, with columnists branding their response ‘woefully inadequate.
“This is a textbook case – yet the investigation is crawling,” said Vilarino. “Every day wasted makes it harder to uncover the truth.”
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