Search intensifies for missing Quito student Lizeth Bunshi along Machángara River

Authorities are reconstructing the final movements of 23‑year‑old Lizeth Bunshi before she vanished in Quito. According to her family lawyer Santiago Sarango, Bunshi left her home in El Tingo with her boyfriend Darío, travelled by taxi to a bar in San Rafael, then to a hostel in the Los Chillos valley before entering the Machángara River with Cristian Villavicencio, who later emerged alone. Villavicencio remains in preventive detention for involuntary disappearance.

A seven‑day rescue operation now covers the river stretch from Collas to Guayllabamba. Teams from the Quito Fire Department, the National Police, the Special Operations Group and the Intervention and Rescue Group, supported by drones and trained dogs, are conducting aerial surveys, terrain scans and water searches despite high flow and recent rains. Captain Freddy Oña of the fire brigade said the search will continue as long as conditions allow, while investigators await testimony from Bunshi’s boyfriend to complete the timeline.