Three Women Who Went Missing Sent Text Messages Before Gruesome Discovery

Three young women who went missing in April and were eventually found dead in Ecuador appear to have sent messages to their loved ones hours before their horrific fate.

The three women who went missing in April were identified as Nayeli Tapia, Yuliana Macias, and Denisse Reyna. They initially went missing on Apr. 4 and were eventually found on Apr. 7 buried in a shallow grave with their throats slit, News.com.au reported.

Per investigations, all three victims were likely tortured, killed and then buried on Apr. 5. Local fishermen called the attention of authorities after smelling something unusual and after a dog sniffed around the area alongside the Esmeraldas River near Quininde, the New York Post reported.

But before all that, it appeared that some of the victims managed to send out text messages to their loved ones, suggesting that they were in danger, according to the Ecuadorean news outlet Vistazo.

The outlet was able to speak with friends and relatives of the victims and discovered that Tapia, a mother of a 4-year-old daughter, sent her sister a message on WhatsApp.

"I'm just sending you just in case," read the message Tapia sent at around 11:10 p.m. on Apr. 4 and included her live location – which later turned out to be the place where the three victims were found dead.

After getting that message, the sister never heard from the 21-year-old woman again.

The outlet added how Reyna had sent a message to her friend hours before she died.

"I feel that something is going to happen, and if something happens to me, remember that I love you very much," read the message the 19-year-old sent.

At the crime scene, police were able to recover a mobile phone, something that police hope will help them in the course of the investigation.

Paulina Rueda, Macias' aunt, claimed their family had been receiving death threats for demanding justice for the death of the three women. She also asked the public not to link the deaths to drug trafficking.

Macias was reportedly a singer and wanted to pursue a second career in Psychology. Reyna, on the other hand, was an agricultural engineering student.

Meanwhile, Tapia had been planning to move with her daughter to Spain.