Spanish football chief's niece killed after being kidnapped

A SPANISH football chief’s niece has been killed after being kidnapped in Mexico last week.

Maria Villar Galaz, whose uncle is Spanish Football Association president Angel Maria Villar, had been missing since September 13.

She was forced to withdraw money from cash machines before being held for ransom.

According to Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, the kidnappers were paid less than they asked for.

He was convinced she would be released safe and sound.

“Unfortunately it did not turn out that way,” he said.

The woman’s remains were identified yesterday after being found in Toluca in Mexico last Thursday.

Two members of her family and Spanish police had travelled to the country to secure her release.

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Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

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