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El detective ha dado por muerta a la víctima del secuestro.

El detective ha dado por muerta a la víctima del secuestro.
The detective has considered the kidnapping victim dead.
From Lesson 382:Considering an action complete (dar por)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about El detective ha dado por muerta a la víctima del secuestro.

Why is it muerta instead of muerto, since the detective is the subject?
In the structure dar por + past participle (meaning to consider or assume something to be a certain way), the participle acts like an adjective describing the direct object. Because the direct object here is la víctima (a feminine noun), the participle must be the feminine muerta, no matter the gender of the detective.
Why do we need the word a right before la víctima?
This is the personal a. Even though the verb is part of the phrase dar por, the noun la víctima is still the direct object of the action. Since the victim is a specific person, the personal a is required.
Could we change the word order and say ...ha dado a la víctima del secuestro por muerta?
Yes, that is grammatically correct and means the same thing. However, when the direct object is a long phrase like a la víctima del secuestro, speakers often prefer to keep the verb phrase ha dado por muerta together so the sentence flows better.
Does dar por mean exactly the same thing as considerar here?
They are very similar, but dar por often carries a stronger sense of finality or an official conclusion. While considerar just means to consider or think, dar por muerta translates closer to having given someone up for dead or having reached a final, accepted conclusion.

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