Who Was Lucas Trejos' Wife? Venezuela Earthquake Claims Her Life Just Two Months After Her Birthday

A powerful twin earthquake that struck Venezuela has killed footballer Lucas Trejo's wife, Yanina Maranella, and their two young children, wiping out his immediate family just weeks after he celebrated her birthday. What began as an ordinary matchday for the defender ended in catastrophe on Wednesday, when he learned the mainshock had destroyed their home while he was playing in Caracas.

The disaster has drawn attention not only because of the scale of destruction, but because of the deeply personal loss suffered by the footballer. As rescue teams searched the rubble, there was brief hope that Trejo's family had escaped. That hope, however, was short-lived.

Who Was Yanina Maranella, Lucas Trejo's Wife?

Yanina Maranella was best known publicly as the wife of Lucas Trejo, but her social media presence reflected a life centred on family, faith and motherhood.

Maranella was a devoted mother to the couple's two children: their son, Aarón Trejo, born on 31 December 2018, and their daughter, Ainhoa, born on 20 August 2020. Her posts frequently highlighted family milestones, daily moments with her children and expressions of gratitude for her life with Trejo.

In May 2025, Trejo shared a tribute for his wife to mark Mother's Day. 'Happy Mother's Day, my love! You're practically Argentinian-Venezuelan after all these years, haha, so you've definitely earned it,' he wrote on Instagram.

He also praised Maranella for managing their household and kids.

'I love you, I admire you, and I wish you all the happiness in the world,' he wrote.

After football stints in Greece and Argentina's lower divisions, including with Sportivo Belgrano, Trejo and Maranella settled permanently in Venezuela in 2015. They built a family together over nearly a decade of dating, later welcoming their two children.

Maranella also made a similar shoutout to Trejo on Father's Day 2023, calling the footballer a 'super dad'.

Her death alongside five-year-old Aarón and seven-year-old Ainhoa has underscored the scale of the tragedy.

Social Media Posts Show Lucas Trejo And Yanina Maranella's Strong Marriage

Little is publicly known about how Lucas Trejo and Yanina Maranella's relationship began, including exactly how they met or when they first started dating, as the couple largely kept the early chapters of their life together private. However, their long-term commitment was evident in their social media posts that painted a picture of a stable and affectionate marriage built on faith and mutual admiration.

In April, Trejo publicly celebrated Maranella's birthday with an emotional message on Instagram. In his birthday tribute, Trejo wrote, 'It is a blessing for us as a family to have you and to move forward in the purpose we have together! With you everything is easier and more beautiful always.'

Maranella also regularly acknowledged her husband online. In a 2018 post, she shared a selfie of the pair and wrote:

'Thank you for making my days so special, God continue to bless us and fill our days with happiness, success, health and much much love!. With you always, together👫 we are much stronger!!! , I am sure our best moments are yet to come... I love you my love! Thank you for making me smile every day.'

How Venezuela's Earthquake Destroyed Trejo's Family

The disaster was triggered by a back-to-back earthquake sequence: a magnitude 7.2 foreshock followed just 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock that hit Venezuela on Wednesday. Trejo was in Caracas playing a Copa Venezuela match when he learned the earthquake had devastated his hometown of La Guaira. He immediately left and rushed home to be with his family.

When he arrived, rescue teams were already combing through the ruins of a collapsed apartment building in Playa Grande. Trejo joined firefighters, volunteers, friends and residents in the search, spending 74 hours looking for survivors.

Many held onto hope that Maranella had taken the children elsewhere before the collapse. Some believed she may have been at their son's football practice, which fuelled hopes the family had escaped.

Those hopes ended when rescuers recovered the bodies of Maranella and the couple's two children from beneath the rubble.

Venezuelan footballer Edson Tortolero, who assisted in the search, later confirmed the deaths. 'We inform all the people of Venezuela and Argentina that the bodies of Lucas Trejo's family members have been found,' he wrote on his Instagram Stories.