Honduran Miss World contestant shot dead

A Honduran beauty queen has been found murdered just days before she was due to compete in the Miss World pageant in London.

The bodies of Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and her sister Sofia, 23, were found buried near a river in the mountainous region of Santa Barbara, about 180km from the capital Tegucigalpa, said Leandro Osorio, head of the police's criminal investigation unit.

They had been shot dead.

Alvarado was crowned Miss Honduras in April and was expected to compete in the Miss World Pageant, with events beginning today and culminating in the final in London on December 14.

She and her sister had been missing since last Thursday, when they were seen leaving a party in a car in Santa Barbara without a licence plate.

"I can confirm that the Alvarado sisters were found ... We also have the murder weapon and the vehicle in which they were transported to the site where they were buried," Osorio said.