Rosa Edilia García is the name of the nun who persuaded the disappeared from La Grita to take them to a supposed encounter with God or the Virgin in a place in the mountains, in the moors of the Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park, between the states of Táchira and Merida.
According to the local newspaper The nationGarcía is 57 years old and belonged to the charismatic prayer group, but for a few years he separated from this movement and created his own called Following Jesus. Close relatives and neighbors assure that the woman is a passionate religious, out of the ordinary.
In general, people consider that García became obsessed. “He went from a religious practice to fanaticism,” said neighbors. “He spent his time beating his chest.”
He had no fixed place for his meetings. Some meetings were in Santa Ana del Valle, where the members of the Luna Roa family live, the first reported missing. People close to the Luna Roa assure that, due to the influence of Rosa Edilia, they took a brother out of the house because he supposedly “had a demon inside.”
Neighbors warn that Rosa Edilia’s obsession exceeded the normal limits, so they think she was mentally unbalanced. Some brothers had already talked regarding it. In June, there were people close to her who noticed the instability of her behavior.
“He sent people to confess, to go to mass and to pray. He said that many bad things were coming, that Christ cried tears of blood for what we all do. That the world was going to end,” one of the people interviewed told The nation.
The security forces continue the search for the approximately 20 disappeared from La Grita. The Cicpc, Civil Protection, Inparques, the GNB and the PNB are carrying out investigations into the case. The officials met in the El Rosal páramo, in the Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park, to define the search plan.
relatives are also participating in search efforts.