"Warm," "smiling," and "kind": the memory of Matilde Muñoz in Lombok

PalmMatilde Muñoz, who according to Indonesian police was murdered in Lombok, is remembered on the island as "a very warm woman," "smiling," and "kind." She was surprisingly physically fit at 72 years old, according to an employee of the motorcycle shop in Senggigi (West Lombok), where Muñoz, a resident of Palma, used to rent a motorcycle to travel around the island, a neighbor of Bali but less developed than the tourist enclave. "Sometimes I would teach her Indonesian; she always came alone to rent the motorcycle," the man added.

An avid traveler who would have turned 73 this September, Muñoz had been visiting Lombok for long periods of time, as well as other parts of Asia, for years. She enjoyed practicing her Indonesian language skills with some of the island's residents. This was confirmed to EFE by a waiter at Café Alberto, the seaside establishment where she used to order something after "a very long morning swim" in the ocean.

"It was surprising when she told us her age... she would swim very far," he says, pointing out how far she could go, adding that she was always "very friendly and smiling. She spoke to us in Indonesian." The lifeless body of Muñoz, born in Ferrol (A Coruña) but living in Mallorca, was found on Saturday just a few meters from the restaurant where she was taking a break after her swim, after being missing for two months.

"It was surprising when she told us her age... She would swim really far out," says the waiter, pointing out how far she could go, and adds that she was always "very friendly and smiling. She spoke to us in Indonesian."

The lifeless body of Muñoz, born in Ferrol (A Coruña) but living in Mallorca, was found on Saturday a few meters from the restaurant where she used to relax after swimming, after being missing for two months.

She was suffocated to death

According to the Lombok Police investigation, two men in their thirties—an employee of the Bumi Aditya Hotel, located half a kilometer from where the body was found, and a former employee of the rustic bungalow complex—entered Muñoz's room in the early hours of July 2 and suffocated her. It was the hotel where Muñoz always stayed on the island, her second home, according to her friends.

In Lombok, where no other such case involving foreign tourists has been reported, several people claim to have learned about the incident through social media, where her disappearance was also reported. Some Indonesians accompanied the announcements with personal messages: "I know this woman, she's very nice," said Hern Zon, echoing the words of another user, Mies Riany.

The Lombok police confirmed this Monday that they are "continuing" to investigate Muñoz's case, and an autopsy is scheduled to be performed in the coming days.