Investigation delays caused by missing cell phone in Nathaly Mafla case

The investigation into the death of Nathaly Juliette Mafla Castillo, a student at the National Polytechnic School (EPN) in Ecuador, passed a critical stage on Tuesday, July 1, 2026, leaving behind a new hearing. The friend to whom Mafla entrusted her cell phone just before she went missing appeared before the Public Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalía) to give a statement. Although the details of her testimony are kept confidential in court records, the hearing is of great importance due to this person's role regarding the cell phone, which is the most crucial evidence for clarifying the event. The family's lawyer, Paúl Vergara, stated that this phone is one of the most critical elements for reconstructing Nathaly's final hours and that the examination of the device could be a turning point in the case.

The search for the device and the process of entrusting it constitute one of the most significant uncertainties the investigation teams are focusing on. The young student's decision to leave her cell phone with a friend before she went missing raises serious questions about the nature of the relationship between the two and the conditions under which this handover took place. The family's legal representative, Vergara, noted in his assessment of the issue that a person leaving a valuable item to someone else usually acts with the expectation of retrieving it in a short time, and emphasized that the reasons underlying Nathaly's decision need to be fully understood. This context can provide important clues about Nathaly's state of mind and intentions before she went missing.

Another important detail deepening the confusion in the investigation is the loss of the cell phone and the time lost during the return process. The young man who received the phone had been missing for a full two weeks before handing the device over to the authorities, and during this time, no communication could be established. Furthermore, it emerged that when the device was returned to her family, it was handed directly to her father without undergoing any forensic examination. This situation has increased doubts regarding whose hands the phone passed through, whether the device was technically manipulated, and whether the integrity of its digital data was preserved, causing concerns regarding the reliability of the evidence.

The statement-taking process at the Public Prosecutor's Office is vitally important in this specific case because the young man was the person holding the phone on the day of the murder. Although the content of the young man's statement has been kept confidential, lawyer Vergara had previously stated in his comments that this testimony would be effective in assembling the necessary pieces to solve the process. Information about the state of the phone at the time it went missing, Nathaly's last communications, and the physical location where the phone was found will provide the necessary ground to reveal the young girl's final hours step by step. This statement is seen as a critical opportunity to fill the information gaps in the criminal investigation.

Apart from the cell phone, there are other concrete elements that will affect the course of the case and have not yet been clarified. The investigation team is making an intense effort to detail what happened in the bathroom inside the university just before the event, why Nathaly's bag was left inside the EPN building, and how she arrived in the La Vicentina area where the body was found. Additionally, the full chronology of the events leading up to the discovery of the body is being examined to seek answers to the questions in mind. The family's lawyer stated that they are meticulously awaiting DNA tests, toxicology reports, and other forensic results for the ultimate truth to emerge, and that the investigation continues to proceed in confidentiality within the scope of femicide (femicidio). The Public Prosecutor's Office may need up to two years to prepare the file and file a lawsuit.