Mauricio and Lizette Gebara lived in a luxury high-rise apartment building near Mexico City. Mauricio was a real estate agent while Lizette was an attorney and they were quite wealthy. Together, the couple had two daughters; 7-year-old Lizette Jr. and Paulette, who was four.
Born prematurely, Paulette had multiple disabilities. She could not move her left hand or walk unassisted and was non-verbal. Paulette slept with an orthopedic cloth over her mouth. To help them look after Paulette’s needs, the Gebaras employed two nannies, sisters Ericka and Martha Casimiro.
On the morning of March 22, 2010, the Casimiro sisters arrived at the Gebara home to get Lizette Jr. and Paulette ready for school. However, when Ericka attempted to wake Paulette up, she found her bed empty.
Ericka and Martha searched the entire house before they woke Lizette up in a panic, and told her that Paulette was missing. Unable to find the little girl anywhere, Mauricio called his sister, who in turn called the police.
Mauricio and his father were close friends with both Alberto Bazbaz, the Attorney General of Mexico at the time, and Enrique Peña Nieto who would later become the President of Mexico. Alberto made a special point to heed the investigation. Within just a couple of hours, Paulette’s disappearance was all over the news, and the city was covered with missing posters.
Along with the authorities, Alberto personally searched Paulette’s bedroom and could not locate her. His interest in the case resulted in much criticism considering that thousands of children vanish in Mexico annually, with little to no media attention, especially from well-known politicians.
A child abduction was ruled out almost immediately because there were no signs of forced entry and no calls for a ransom. Since Paulette could not walk by herself it was unlikely that she left the apartment building on her own either, and CCTV confirmed that wasn’t the case. It was as though the little girl had suddenly vanished into thin air.
Lizette invited multiple news reporters into Paulette’s bedroom and even allowed her best friend Amanda De La Rosa to sleep in Paulette’s bed for several days after she went missing, potentially contaminating the scene.
During an interview, Lizette joked that perhaps Harry Potter took Paulette. Later, she said, “Even if Paulette is gone, I still have another daughter.”
The news reporter would later describe Lizette’s demeanor as cold, and unempathetic, noting she never once cried. Lizette was ordered to see a psychologist who ultimately diagnosed her with a personality disorder.
Mauricio stated that he did not trust his wife and accused her of harming Paulette while Lizette told reporters that Mauricio was the guilty one.
The Casimiro sisters also accused Lizette of knowing more than she was letting on. They recalled that she sat in the living room, calmly drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes the day after Paulette vanished as though she had not a care in the world. They claimed the Gebaras were in financial trouble and that Lizette was embarrassed to have a disabled daughter.
In a conversation secretly recorded by the authorities, Lizette told Lizette Jr. not to divulge anything regarding Paulette’s disappearance to anyone. When Lizette Jr. asked why, Lizette responded, “Because we could get into trouble.” Lizette later claimed that her statement was taken out of context.
Lizette insisted that she tucked Paulette into bed the night before she went missing — Ericka and Martha said they were the ones who put her to bed.
Mauricio told the police that he took his daughters on a trip the day before Paulette disappeared. He insisted that Lizette accompanied them but an investigation determined that she went on a trip of her own to Los Cabos with her best friend Amanda — and met up with her secret lover. Some reports state that Mauricio knew of his wife’s affair and covered for her.
“Each one of them at a certain moment have falsified their statements, which has made it difficult to know the truth of the facts and clarify a firm line of investigation,” Alberto Bazbaz stated in a press conference.
Due to conflicting statements, Alberto Bazbaz ordered that the Gebaras and the Casimiro sisters be detained on the 8th day of Paulette’s disappearance. All four were taken to separate hotels and prevented from leaving.
Then, the very next day, a shocking discovery was made.
On March 31st, the ninth day, forensic investigators were creating a reconstruction of Paulette’s disappearance when they noticed a putrid stench in her bedroom. They pulled back the blanket and multiple bedsheets, only to reveal little Paulette’s lifeless body at the foot of her bed.
Between the wooden bedpost and the mattress was a space of 16 inches. Paulette was lying horizontally, face down, with her thumb in her mouth.
The autopsy determined that Paulette had been dead anywhere from 9 to 5 days and that she had eaten five hours before her death. The cause of death was suffocation partly due to her position and partly due to the orthopedic cloth which was still covering Paulette’s mouth.
The coroner concluded that there were no signs of violence or sexual assault and asserted that Paulette must have gotten tangled in her bedsheets until she fell and got stuck. Her death was ruled accidental.
The Casimiro sisters insisted that they not only searched under the mattress but made the bed in a reconstruction for the media, removing the blanket and sheets, at which time they did not see Paulette stuck in the foot of the bed. They maintained that Lizette killed her and moved her body.
Mauricio agreed, questioning why Amanda failed to notice Paulette’s body despite having slept in her bed for several days after she vanished or why the smell of decomposition was not noticeable for nine whole days. He stated that this was no accident but a carefully planned murder by Lizette.
Outraged citizens criticized Alberto Bazbaz for failing to find Paulette who had seemingly been under his nose all along. He stepped down as Attorney General but maintained his belief that Lizette was involved in Paulette’s death. Many believe no charges were filed because he bungled the case.
For reasons unknown, Mauricio did not attend his own daughter’s funeral. He filed for divorce, took Lizette Jr., and moved away. Lizette obtained a restraining order against him and filed for custody, which she was granted.
In 2017, the case of Paulette Gebara was officially closed. Loved ones had her remains exhumed and cremated. Today, she would be 16 years old.