The body found down a well on the Costa del Sol belongs to a 35-year-old missing woman named Cristina, it has emerged.

Her 50-year-old partner is reported to be among three people arrested following the grim discovery in Rincon de la Victoria on Wednesday morning.

The case is now being treated as a potential ‘gender violence’ murder.

According to respected local newspaper La Opinion de Malaga, the partner confessed to killing Cristina and led officers to where her body was hidden.

Two other people – a man and a woman – have also been arrested. According to sources, detectives suspect they may have helped dispose of the body after the killing.

The victim, named locally as Cristina, was reported missing in Malaga city at the beginning of April after relatives and friends lost contact with her on March 31.

The Policia Nacional launched an investigation into her disappearance, with detectives eventually focusing their inquiries on her partner.

The partner is reported to have revealed the location of the body, which was found inside a well near the Añoreta area of Rincon de la Victoria, close to Exit 968 of the A-7 motorway towards Almeria.

As the location falls within the Guardia Civil’s jurisdiction, officers from the force took over the recovery operation after the confession.

The woman’s remains were discovered inside the well near Arroyo Cuevas, where a forensic doctor carried out an initial examination before a judge authorised the removal of the body.

It has since been transferred to Málaga’s Institute of Legal Medicine, where forensic specialists will formally confirm the victim’s identity and establish the cause of death.

Investigators believe the body may have remained in the well for around two months.

The investigation remains ongoing and authorities have not yet confirmed the exact charges the three suspects may face.

If confirmed as a gender violence crime, it would be the third alleged femicide in Malaga province this year.

It follows the deaths of Vicky in Malaga’s La Palmilla district in June and British expat Victoria Hart in Alhaurin el Grande in January.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.