21. With regard to the effects of the murder of Joe Luís Castillo González on his wife and child, as well as on the work of the organization for which he worked, the petitioners firstly allege that a number of developments resulted from the abrupt change brought about in the life of Yelitze Moreno de Castillo and her son, such as depression, fear of being the object of a further attack, uncertainty, change of home, work, and others. They state that the sense of vulnerability experienced by Mrs. Moreno Castillo has resulted in her selling her house, car, and land, and has led her to avoid traveling to places in the west of the country or near Machiques. She will only leave the place where she is living in the company of friends or family. They state that the symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder are well known: violent flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty in sleeping and in relaxing. These symptoms have also been observed in her son, Luís César Castillo, whose symptoms include panic attacks when he hears the sound of explosions. The murder of Joe Castillo has affected the work of other human rights activists working with the Machiques Vicariat because following his murder and the receipt of further threats, the organization first declared collective holidays and then decided to close the Social Action Office for two months. The office is no longer working with refugees and or on human rights violations in general. 22. With regard to the exhaustion of remedies available under domestic law, the petitioners allege that the exception described in Article 46(2)(c) of the American Convention. Taking into account the nature of the facts and type of violations alleged the most appropriate remedy would be a criminal trial brought ex officio by the Public Prosecutor. 23. In the instant case, the petitioners allege that in the course of the investigation, the Public Prosecutor has undertaken a number of tasks such as the removal of the body and the autopsy, interview of those in the vicinity of the events, identikit, and medical examination of the two injured victims, identification, and photographic identification. In addition, the offices in charge of the investigation have maintained regular contact with Yelitze Moreno de Castillo in order to update her on the results of the investigations and to attend to her protection requirements. 24. Without prejudice to the foregoing, the petitioners claim that the exception to the requirement to exhaust remedies available under domestic law is applicable in this case because there has been an unwarranted delay, given that three years and six months have passed since the events, and the criminal investigation is still in its preparatory phase because no criminal charge has yet been brought. 3 25. Finally they point out that although the case is complex, this does not justify the delay in the investigation because from the outset the Office of the Public Prosecutor has been in possession of evidence such as the description given by Yelitze Moreno Castillo, the ballistic evidence, detailed descriptions given by those in the vicinity, none of which has subsequently been used to follow up and identify lines of investigation that might make it possible to identify those responsible. B. State 26. The Commission has not received a response from the State with respect to the admissibility of the petition even though it was duly informed. IV. ANALYSIS 3 The petitioners refer to the fact that the Commission has stated that periods of two years without those responsible at least being identified and with no progress made towards clarifying the events amounts to unwarranted delay. See, IACHR, Claudia Ivette González Case. Admissibility Report, 2005, paragraph 21; IACHR, Esmeralda Herrera Montreal Case, Admissibility Report, 2005, paragraph 25; Laura Berenice Ramos Monarrez Case. Admissibility Report 2005, paragraph 20; IACHR César Geovanny Guzmán Reyes Case. Admissibility Report, 2004, paragraph 24, and IACHR, Luisiana Ríos and others Case. Admissibility Report 2004, paragraph 68. 4