Honduras beauty queen Maria Jose Alvarado found dead

The bodies of Honduran beauty queen Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and her sister have been found nearly a week after the two women disappeared.

Ms Alvarado and Sofia Trinidad, 23, vanished on Thursday after being seen leaving a party near the northern city of Santa Barbara, reports BBC.

They were shot and their bodies buried in a field by a river, police say.

Two men have been arrested, and one of them has reportedly confessed to killing and burying the women.

Ms Alvarado had been due to compete in the Miss World contest in London.

The organisers of the contest joined in paying tribute to the dead women.

The impoverished Central American state’s record of violent crime has again come under scrutiny.

‘Confession’

Plutarco Ruiz, said to be the boyfriend of Ms Trinidad, was detained along with another man, Aris Maldonado.

Mr Ruiz confessed to shooting the two women and then burying their bodies with the help of Mr Maldonado, Honduras National Police director Gen Ramon Sabillon told media.

The bodies were found in the village of Cablotales, near the River Aguagua, police announced earlier.