Facundo Astudillo Castro (August 23, 1997 – about August 15, 2020) was an Argentine citizen who disappeared on April 30, 2020, after being stopped by police during strict lockdowns in Argentina due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was traveling by hitchhiking from Pedro Luro to Bahía Blanca when he was stopped at a police checkpoint near the town of Mayor Buratovich. His last known image, taken on the day he disappeared, shows him being held by police for breaking the lockdown rules, with his hands near a police vehicle numbered RO 23360. His family called this a forced disappearance by the Buenos Aires Provincial Police. This idea was also supported by human rights activist Estela de Carlotto. Another activist, Nora Cortiñas, asked the Buenos Aires Province Minister of Security, Sergio Berni, to resign. The minister said this request was not responsible.
The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (OHCHR) asked the Argentine government to quickly and carefully investigate the case, considering all possible explanations. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also issued a warning to protect Facundo’s rights. Argentina’s president said during a radio interview, “We need to find out what happened to Facundo. We must find him, and if anyone did something wrong, they must be held accountable.”
The investigation began as a “Whereabouts inquiry” but later became a “Forced disappearance” investigation. In August 2020, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team joined the case. Facundo’s body was found on August 15, 2020, in a very advanced state of decomposition, between the cities of General Daniel Cerri and Villarino Viejo. The autopsy was performed at the former ESMA in Buenos Aires, where the forensic team has its laboratory. Fifteen experts from different fields worked on the examination, which took 10 hours. The autopsy report, released by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, stated that Facundo died from drowning, but it could not determine if the death was caused by homicide, suicide, or an accident. Algae found on his body matched the type found at the discovery site.
Disappearance
On April 30, 2020, Facundo Astudillo Castro left his home in Pedro Luro to go to Bahía Blanca, both cities in Buenos Aires Province, to visit his former girlfriend. At that time, the country was under a strict stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This order required people to have a permit to travel, and those who broke the rules could be punished. Facundo did not have a permit and traveled by hitchhiking.
Around 1:00 p.m., Facundo called his mother and said, "Mom, you don’t know where I am. You will never see me again."
Later that day, two police officers from Mayor Buratovich stopped Facundo and gave him a ticket for breaking the lockdown rules. The Astudillo family learned about this around 10:00 a.m. When the police stopped him, they took a photo of him being held by the officers, with his hands visible near a police pickup truck numbered RO 23360. A photo of his driver’s license was also taken.
Facundo was later stopped again at a police checkpoint near the entrance to Teniente Origone. Three witnesses said they saw him around 3:30 p.m. in that area when two provincial police officers, in a Toyota Hilux pickup truck with the rear door open, stopped him and told him to get into the vehicle. However, the prosecutor did not find this enough evidence to prove that Facundo was kidnapped by the police. One officer, Alberto González, said he encountered Facundo about 26 kilometers farther along Route 3 and took a photo of his driver’s license. The officer reported that Facundo told him he was traveling to Bahía Blanca and did not have a required travel permit. After learning this, the officer radioed the Médanos police station for instructions and was told to let Facundo go. In his statement, the officer said Facundo continued his journey in a light gray Renault Duster Oroch.
Investigation
On July 5, a formal missing persons report was filed. It was assigned to Rodolfo De Lucía, head of the 20th UFI in Bahía Blanca. The family of the missing person criticized the police, saying it was difficult to file the report. They also noted that the police recorded a friend’s testimony about the missing person on a piece of paper from a deli.
On June 17, Cristina Castro, the missing person’s mother, asked Mayor Buratovich to observe a police operation. However, five trucks from the Buenos Aires police blocked her path.
On June 25, the Federal System for the Search of Lost and Missing Persons learned about the case. It informed police and government agencies nationwide through the federal Ministry of Security’s systems.
On July 8, the Federal Police’s Person Search division joined the search. Resources were also requested from other federal forces. That same day, the police watch log book of Mayor Buratovich was seized, along with several police officers’ mobile phones.
Also on July 8, federal judge Gabriel Marrón took charge of the case. The investigation was led by prosecutor Santiago Ulpiano Martínez. The Buenos Aires provincial police were removed from the investigation due to suspicion. Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Roberto Cipriano García, members of the Provincial Commission on Memory, were accepted as plaintiffs.
On July 11, at the request of the Provincial Commission on Memory, a UN committee asked the Argentinian government to conduct a quick and thorough investigation. The government at the time stated its full commitment to the investigation.
On July 12, during a Buenos Aires police search for human remains at Mayor Buratovich’s landfill, the family’s lawyer was threatened by a police deputy commissioner. At the prosecutor’s request, the provincial police left the scene to the federal police. No human remains were found that day. The deputy commissioner was later dismissed by Internal Affairs.
Between July 14 and 15, 200 officers from the Federal Police, Naval Prefecture, and National Gendarmerie conducted land and air searches between Pedro Luro and Bahía Blanca, near National Route 3.
On July 15, police vehicles were examined for physical and biological evidence, such as blood and DNA samples. Forensic analysis of police officers’ mobile phones using UFED technology was requested, as was an analysis of the Mayor Buratovich police station logbook for signs of tampering. Stains matching blood were found on the trunk of a police officer’s personal vehicle and on police pickup truck number 22788, including the glove compartment, back seat, rear cargo box, and steering wheel.
On July 17, the missing person’s mobile provider reported that around 7:00 p.m. on March 30, the phone sent pings from the Facebook app. These were recorded at two locations: one on National Route 3 and the other in the Bahía Blanca petrochemical area. On July 21, the missing person’s mother requested a change in the federal prosecutor, Santiago Ulpiano Martínez, citing issues with the June 19 search, such as involving the Buenos Aires provincial police (which was no longer part of the investigation) and Facebook data leaks.
Between July 25 and 27, a new search was conducted in the area between the entrance to the Villarino partido and the Aguará train station. It also covered part of National Route 3 and used canine units, Federal Police drones, and tactical divers from the National Prefecture.
On July 29, federal judge María Gabriela Marrón denied the request to replace the prosecutor, stating it was procedurally incorrect.
On July 31, a new search using canine units was conducted in the Teniente Origone precinct. An object possibly belonging to the missing person was found in an abandoned cellblock. His mother said the item was a gift from his grandmother.
On August 7, at the request of the missing person’s family, new searches using canine units were conducted in Mayor Buratovich near the 780-kilometer mark of National Route 3. Burnt bone remains were found, but they could not be identified at the time. The family believes the missing person was taken into a police patrol vehicle in that area.
On August 8, it was revealed that the missing person’s girlfriend and brother were threatened by Buenos Aires provincial police officers during a search for a confession. An illegal raid was also reported at the family’s home. The prosecutor stated these actions, though illegal, showed the police’s desire to find the missing person rather than cover up the case.
On August 8, the family requested a second change in the federal prosecutor, Santiago Ulpiano Martínez, after he denied an arrest request for several police officers.
The prosecutor’s office purchased a new SIM card with the missing person’s number from Claro. The Federal Police used this SIM to access Astudillo Castro’s WhatsApp account from a new cellphone.
Body discovery
Astudillo Castro's remains were discovered on August 15, 2020, in a very decomposed condition, in an area between the cities of General Daniel Cerri and Villarino Viejo. An autopsy was conducted at the former ESMA building in Buenos Aires, where the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) has its laboratory. Fifteen experts from various fields participated in the examination, which took 10 hours to complete.
The autopsy report, released by the EAAF, stated that the cause of death was drowning, and the manner of death was classified as unnatural. However, the report could not determine whether the death resulted from homicide, suicide, or an accident.
An analysis of diatoms, a type of algae, found in Astudillo Castro's bone marrow showed that he did not drown in the location where his body was found. Of the 17 types of diatoms present in the local water, only 5 were found in his marrow. Forensic dentist Marta Maldonado noted that Astudillo Castro's teeth indicated his death was violent.
The Facundo Castro family hired an independent forensic expert, Virginia Creimer, who criticized the EAAF's autopsy. She claimed the EAAF rushed the examination before all experts had arrived and appeared biased toward the idea that the death was not violent. Creimer suggested that Astudillo Castro may have been drowned in a different location and then moved to where his body was discovered. She proposed that waterboarding, a method of torture used by Argentine security forces, could have caused his death.
Suspects
After the disappearance, four police officers from Buenos Aires province are being looked at as possible suspects because their statements changed and had inconsistencies. The two main suspects are Mario Gabriel Sosa and Jana Jennifer Curuhinca. These officers arrested Astudillo Castro, took photos of him and his identification card during the arrest. Sosa and Curuhinca seemed worried about Castro's disappearance in WhatsApp messages. Soon after Castro disappeared, the officers deleted the WhatsApp app. The court did not consider this unusual, as the officers said, "We all delete apps." A police car was found near the location where Astudillo Castro's body was discovered, as shown by the police's geolocation system. This has raised questions about whether police officers might have been involved in Castro's death. Some people also claim that some suspects tried to affect the investigation. Sergeant Siomara Flores was part of the investigation into Castro's death, even though she is the half-sister of officer Curuhinca. Officer Sosa was identified by a family member of Facundo's ex-girlfriend as being part of a police group that questioned Facundo. This group asked him to say that Facundo was involved with drugs. The same person said both Sosa and Curuhinca were present during the questioning and appeared very nervous. Police also searched the home of Facundo's ex-girlfriend without permission. The police group visited the home illegally and pressured the woman to falsely say that Facundo had "problems with drugs." Despite the family's requests for the officers to be arrested, the prosecutors said (as of August 13) that there is not enough evidence to jail the police officers.