Two years without Marina: family pleads for case of young woman who died in Malaga after falling off jet ski to be reopened
The examining magistrate decided to close the investigation, considering that no evidence of criminality had been found
Marina Barrientos Olmo was 32 years old when she fell off a jet ski off one of El Palo's beaches in Malaga city. It happened on 16 July 2023 and she died on the operating table at the Hospital Clínico that same night. Two years later, her family still doesn't trust that the investigation at the time found the true circumstances that led to their daughter's death, refusing to believe that the case could be treated as a simple and fortuitous accident.
Marina's family, alongside her child, are waiting for the provincial court of Malaga to reach a decision regarding their appeal for the investigation to remain open. The court that has been in charge of it provisionally closed it, having concluded that there was no evidence of criminality.
Dropped her hat
On the day of the incident, Marina and her friend were picked up by a third person on a jet ski. Once in the sea, they met up with a group of young people, planning to spend the afternoon on a boat.
The incident occurred late in the day, as they were preparing to return. According to the witness statements collected by the Guardia Civil, Marina fell in the water because she dropped her hat. Badly injured, she was then rescued by the group of young people.
Marina was on a blue jet ski - the one from which the police took samples. It was also discovered that the driver of that vehicle had alcohol and cocaine in his blood at the time of the incident. However, they did not investigate the other jet ski that was in the water - a green one that was going at an undetermined distance from the blue one. Together, the people occupying the two leisure craft were heading to Puerto Niza, located between Rincón de la Victoria and Vélez-Málaga.
The rider of the green jet ski, who was accompanied by his brother, told the Guardia Civil that he was in front of the blue one, going at 40-50km/h.
The Guardia Civil's investigation did not reach a definitive conclusion. Instead, two possibilities were left open. The first one was that Marina fell very close to the turbine and was internally injured by the rapidly circulating water. The second is that she struck some part of the jet ski at the moment it made an upward motion - opposite to the direction of her fall - after bouncing on the surface of the sea.
Autopsy
The judge concluded that there were no signs of violence or that a person was involved. The autopsy determined that the injuries had been caused by a "blunt object" with an edge or point that does not necessarily have to be sharp and that "was inserted with great force," causing tears in muscles and vessels and fracturing the sacrum and coccyx bones.
Marina's family never believed these conclusions. Her mother Sylvia is convinced that her daughter might have been run over by the other jet ski - a hypothesis supported by judicial expert Miryam Moya, who was hired by the family. Moya's report does not dispute the way the fall happened (that she lost her balance when trying to catch the hat that flew off), but categorically rejects that the injuries were caused by the water expelled by the turbine or by Marina hitting any part of the motorbike she was riding (the blue one). In her opinion, such trauma, given the severity of the injuries, would necessarily have left traces of blood or DNA on the helmet.
Expert's report based on "conjecture"
Moya presented a 3D reconstruction of the accident and stated that the fatal injuries suffered by Marina Barrientos were caused "by a direct impact with the other jet ski (the green one) - the only blunt object of sufficient mass and speed present at the scene".
The expert is critical of the police investigation as it is based solely on witness statements: "There was no thorough collection of forensic evidence on the other jet ski; no DNA tests or blood tests were carried out on the surfaces of the vehicle, which could have revealed contact with Marina. Nor were alcohol or drug tests conducted on the driver of that second vehicle," she said.
The judge stated that the expert's report is based on "conjecture". Marina's family, however, continues to seek more information about the case. They demand that Marina's phone be examined for messages, photos and videos from the day of her death and that statements be collected from more witnesses.
