The family of Floridalma Roque, a 59-year-old mother and nurse originally from Guatemala, has not heard from her for more than eight months, since she traveled from New York to Guatemala City in mid-June to undergo several cosmetic surgeries.
According to his relatives and medical records, Roque entered the Perfektima clinic in the Guatemalan capital on the morning of June 13. There she was scheduled to undergo surgical procedures on her arms and eyelids. Since then, nothing has been heard from her and her relatives are searching for her tirelessly.
At the clinic they were told that Roque had discharged herself, against doctors’ advice, the day after the operation and had left the scene in an Uber.
In an online collection organized by Roque’s relatives on the GoFundMe website to finance the expenses of his search, Edwar Roque, one of his sons, explains that this is impossible since his mother’s phone was turned off before the operation. and it was never lit again.
The missing woman’s son also explains that Roque arrived at the clinic accompanied by a relative but that “the clinical staff asked that relative to leave.” They say they told her that “they would call her once Floridalma was ready to be picked up.” She never received that call.
Even so, the relative, Rosario Sandoval, went to the clinic at 10:00 am the next day and reports that the plastic surgeon Kevin Malouf himself told her that Roque had left the clinic at 7:00 am in an Uber, as explained by the daughter of the missing woman, Vida Roque, to CBS News.
Warning signs about what could have happened to Floridalma Roque
Vida Roque added that her mother “did not like to travel alone and was always accompanied, so it would be unusual for her to leave the clinic alone after the surgery.”
That’s why the clinic’s version raised a red flag. Another was the different versions that the clinic gave them about how and when Floridalma Roque supposedly left the facility.
According to Edwar Roque on GoFundMe, Malouf, the surgeon, “has changed his version of events at least three times.” “From saying that she called a taxi, to now saying: ‘someone came to look for her and told them that they were outside of her,'” alleges the missing woman’s son.
He also points out the fact that his mother could not see, since her eyelids had been operated on.
However, the family was shown surveillance video obtained by Guatemalan police showing a woman the clinic alleges was Roque being escorted from the facility. Edwar Roque denies that she is his mother. “She is much taller than Floridalma and heavier,” she explains on GoFundMe. “That was NOT Floridalma!” she wrote.
Vida Roque told CBS News that she had sought help from police in New York, the FBI and the US embassy in Guatemala City. But it is difficult because it is a disappearance that occurred outside the United States.
The doctor was arrested
The insistence of Roque’s family led to the case being investigated by the local police. A close examination of the surveillance video appears to show a patient with his head completely bandaged leaving the office, the person the clinic alleges was Roque and who the family says there is no way it could have been her.
But a second video obtained by authorities shows clinic staff members removing a large container and bags of trash on the night of Roque’s disappearance.
On July 28, 2023, the prosecutor’s office against the crime of femicide raided four properties related to Maluf, who was later arrested along with other members of the clinic staff. According to the prosecutor’s office, they have enough evidence to link the four defendants to Roque’s disappearance.
According to the local newspaper Prensa Libre, on October 19, a criminal court of first instance issued precautionary measures on bank accounts, a farm, an apartment and a parking lot, all equivalent to $1 million, owned by Maluf. He remains in custody of the authorities while the investigation continues.
But, despite the progress in the case, eight months after her disappearance, Roque’s children do not have their mother’s body, do not know her whereabouts, nor have they received any death certificate, something that could take months or even years if his body is not recovered, according to CBS News.
Edwar Roque says that his mother’s disappearance from the Perfektima clinic is not an isolated event.
“We have also met other victims with similar stories in which their family member also disappeared after leaving the Perfektima clinic and their stories were never brought to light or brought to justice,” he said. “The only difference is that they were all Guatemalan and Floridalma was a US citizen,” she added.
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2024-02-19 21:50:00
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