The niece of Spanish Football Federation president Angel Maria Villar has been found dead after getting kidnapped in Mexico.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo has confirmed that Maria Villar Galaz was taken by a gang on September 13 as she withdrew money from a cash machine.
A sum - lower than the ransom demanded - was paid to the kidnappers to seal the 36-year-old's release, but her body was found in the city of Toluca on Tuesday.
Galaz's husband and cousin travelled with two Spanish police officers for an attempted rescue, but in the end, identified her body at a morgue.
"An amount was paid, although much lower than what they had asked," the minister told Onda Cero. "We were convinced that it would be a matter of time before she appeared safe and sound. Unfortunately things did not turn out that way.
"It is very sad news and totally unexpected. I suppose that Angel Maria Villar knows what has happened. I have not spoken with him, although I have tried."
Villar pulled out of the running to become the new UEFA president earlier this month.
