Civil Guard personnel recovered the remains of Wafaa Sebbah, a 19-year-old woman from Pobla de Llarga, who was allegedly tortured and killed by a man known as David, also called El Tuvi. The body lay at the bottom of a 16-meter-deep irrigation well on farmland in Carcaixent (Valencia) since the afternoon of June 17, 2021. More than a year passed before the find, and the body was weighed down with a hoe. The well’s groundwater level meant water present at times and empty at others, which affected how the body settled and deteriorated.
The fluctuating water level, the shifts between submerged and partially exposed states, and the constant contact with silt at the bottom all contributed to rapid decomposition. This slowed forensic work and complicated the full reconstruction of events, yet it did not prevent investigators from eventually locating parts of the remains.
Due to the mud’s persistence, investigators continued to seek clues that might yet answer lingering questions. Wafaa’s mother, Soraya Taibi, recalled this being an act of pure humanity and joined the family in requesting that the Alzira No. 4 Court of Inquiry direct the Civil Guard to return to inspect the Vidalet estate’s irrigation well. The goal remained rescuing any remaining remains of Wafaa.
Preliminary hearing diligence
The Vidalet farm, a site growing avocados and citrus, sits just over a kilometer from Wafaa’s family home and is close to Pobla de Llarga. Ownership changed hands not long after the crime, moving from the Tuvi family to new owners who continued agricultural use of the land.
Despite the time that has passed and the new owners’ ongoing use of the property, the family, represented by their lawyers, including criminalist Jesús Ruiz de Valbuena, urged the judge to keep the inquiry open. The preliminary hearing was expected to proceed in the coming weeks unless the defendant requested a direct trial.
The special prosecutor’s office, as reported by Levante-EMV, notes that Wafaa’s family seeks a permanent, reviewable sentence and an additional 33 years in prison for the confessed killers on multiple charges: murder, rape, kidnapping, a hate crime for acting against a woman of North African origin, and possession of a carbine used in the killing.
Forty-one missing bone remains
Initial examinations by the Valencia Institute of Forensic Medicine showed that soft tissue had largely decayed, complicating the understanding of sexual assault and the precise injuries sustained by the victim. The Civil Guard later identified additional gaps in the skeletal remains. In a six-day follow-up, Greim mountain rescue specialists, GEAS divers, the Valencia Homicide group, and UCO experts reassessed the scene and the body.
On the second day of renewed examination, four large bone fragments were recovered along with some soft tissue. About 20 percent of the skeleton remained missing, including many bones from the hands, feet, ribs, and vertebrae. The missing bones hold the potential to illuminate the trajectory of events, such as the nature of a carbine impact, and to determine whether trauma occurred before or after death. Forensic medicine also reevaluated the autopsy to confirm or rule out other injuries related to the crime.
Lawyers Ruiz and Valbuena suggest that additional clues might still be found, including clothing and personal effects. They requested not only a renewed inspection of the well but also a broader search of the surrounding property where the alleged crime occurred, including a rural chalet near the Vidalet estate.
Two almost identical crimes
Further investigation revealed a connection to another case at El Tuvi’s grandfather’s property. He has been linked to another murder, that of Isabell Raducanu, and her unborn child in Xàtiva. Isabell was strangled with a mataleón while in the sixth month of pregnancy, after suffering multiple stab wounds. The case occurred on June 11, 2019, roughly five months before Wafaa’s death, suggesting a possible pattern in the killer’s modus operandi and a broader violent trajectory.
The family had previously urged the courts to review these links, but both the Alzira Court and the Valencia Court had declined to reopen the procedures. Wafaa’s family continues to seek clarity and accountability, a stance that has persisted through successive judicial decisions, including a notable rejection on International Women’s Day.