Missing Honduran journalist found dead

Tegucigalpa (Honduras), July 22 (IANS/EFE) A Honduran television journalist who went missing over the weekend has been found dead, Ramon Sabillon, director of Honduras National Police, said.

The body of Herlyn Espinal was found Monday near the town of Santa Rita in the northern province of Yoro, Sabillon told Efe news agency.

He added that official confirmation of the victim's identity is being awaited from the medical examiner's office but said that the reporter's relatives "have confirmed his death".

The victim was shot dead, according to media accounts.

Espinal was the coordinator of the "Hoy Mismo" news programme on Channel 3 in San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras.

The body was found just hours after authorities made several raids and searches in Santa Rita, Espinal's home town, and arrested a man suspected of having a role in his disappearance.

The specific cause of Espinal's death is not yet known, but it appears that he went out Saturday night with friends in Santa Rita, according to local media reports.

According to the state-run Human Rights Commission, some 43 reporters were murdered in Honduras between 2003 and 2013, but the majority of those cases have not been resolved.

--IANS/EFE

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