Facundo Astudillo Castro

Facundo Astudillo Castro (dissapeared 30 April 2020) is an argentinian man who went missing after being stopped by the police during the COVID-19 pandemic strict lockdowns in Argentina. He was hitchhiking from Pedro Luro to Bahía Blanca, when in the town entrance of Mayor Buratovich was stopped in a police checkpoint of circulation permits. His last known image, taken the day of disappearance, depicts him being hold by the police for violating the lockdown, with his hands against the police vehicle number RO 23360. It was cataloged by the victim family as a Forced disappearance in hands of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police. This theory was also followed by human rights activist Estela de Carlotto. Nora Cortiñas, another known activist in Argentina, demanded the resignation of Sergio Berni, the Buenos Aires Province Minister of Security. The minister considered this an irresponsible request. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (OHCHR) demanded the argentine government to be expedite and through in the investigation, as well as to take any possible hypothesis in consideration. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also issued a precautionary measure. The President of Argentina, during a radio interview, stated: "We need to know what happened to Facundo. I want us to find him and, if someone was responsible for an illicit act, they will have to face the consequences". The investigation started under the legal title of Whereabouts inquiry but then turned to a Forced disappearance investigation. In August, the involvement of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team in the investigation was required. Disappearance: On 30 April 2020, Facundo Astudillo Castro left his house in Pedro Luro to Bahía Blanca (both cities located in the Buenos Aires Province) to visit his ex-girlfriend, trying to get back together. At this time the country was under a strict lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, which required eligible persons to travel a permit to do so, and punished those who violated the regulation. He did not have this permit, and traveled hitchhiking. At around 13 hours, the young man called his mother, stating: "Mom, you have no idea where am I at, you'll never see me again". On the same day, two Mayor Buratovich policemen intercepted the young man and made him a ticket for lockdown violation. The Astudillo family locates this at about 10 hours. As the police stopped him, they took his last known picture, which depicts him being hold by the police for violating the lockdown, with his hands against the police pickup number RO 23360. A photo of his driver license was later taken. He was later stopped at another police check for permits in the town entrance of Teniente Origone. Three witnesses claim to have seen Facundo around 3:30 p.m. in that area when two province policemen, in a Toyota Hilux pickup truck with its rear door open, supposedly stopped him and told him to get on. However, the prosecutor does not consider this enough grounds to establish that Facundo was kidnapped by the police, citing among other reasons than an officer (Alberto González) claims to have intercepted the disappeared young man around 26 kilometres further on Route 3 than what the location mentioned by the witnesses, and he took a picture of his driver's license (photo which is on record in the case file). This officer claims to have questioned Facundo, who told him he was en route to Bahía Blanca and did not had the circulation permit required. After becoming aware of this, the officer stated he radioed the Médanos police station about what to do, and he was told to let the young man go. In his statement, the police officer said that the young man kept on in a light grey Renault Duster Oroch. Investigation: On the 5th of July, a formal missing persons report was entered, which was assigned to Rodolfo De Lucía, head of the 20th UFI in Bahía Blanca. The family of the disappeared criticized police action, pointing out how hard they made to file the report, and the fact that the Police took note of one of Facundo's friends testimonial on a deli piece of paper. On June 17, Cristina Castro (mother of Facundo) reached out to Mayor Buratovich to witness a police operation, but five trucks of the Buenos Aires police blocked her. On June 25, the Federal System for the Search of Lost and Missing Persons became aware of the case and reported it to police and government agencies across the country through the systems of the federal Ministry of Security. On the 8th of July, the Person Search division of the Federal Police joined the search. Resources were also requested from other federal forces. This same day, the police watch log book of Mayor Buratovich was seized, as well as several policemen's mobile phones. Also on July 8, federal judge Gabriel Marrón took on the case, with the investigation being taken by prosecutor Santiago Ulpiano Martínez. The Buenos Aires provincial police was removed from the investigation as it was under suspicions, and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Roberto Cipriano García (members of the Provincial Commission on Memory) were accepted as plaintiffs. On July 11, and by request of the Provincial Commission on Memory, an UN committee demanded the argentinian State an "expedite and through" investigation. The government of that time informed the UN their absolute commitment to the investigation. On July 12, during a Buenos Aires police procedure looking for human remains in a Mayor Buratovich Landfill, the family attorney was threatened by a police deputy commissioner. Then, 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 discharged by order of Internal Affairs. Between the 14 and 15 of July, 200 members of the Federal Police, the Naval Prefecture and the National Gendarmerie conducted cross country and air search between Pedro Luro and Bahía Blanca, in an area near to the National Route 3. On 15 July, a forensic examination was conducted on police vehicles, in search of physical and biological traces, including blood and other DNA samples. Forensics on the policemen mobile phones using Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) technology were requested, as well as an analysis on the Mayor Buratovich police station logbook, looking for any kind of manipulation to hide the detention of Facundo in that station. Stains compatible with blood residue were found on the trunk of a police officer's personal vehicle and, on police pickup truck number 22788, stains on the glove compartment, back seat and rear cargo box, as well as minor stains on the steering wheel. On 17 July, Facundo's mobile provider informed that around 19 hours on March the 30th, pings from the Facebook app were sent by the disappeared's phone. This was registered by two sites, one located in the National Route 3, and the other in the Bahía Blanca petrochemical pole.[48][49]On 21 July, the disappeared's mother made a substitution request on the federal prosecutor, Santiago Ulpiano Martínez, citing wrongdoings in the June 19th search, such as contacting the Buenos Aires province police (which was at the moment already taken off the investigation) and data leaks published on Facebook. Between the 25 and 27 of July, a new search was made, comprising the area between the entrance to the Villarino partido (department) and the Aguará train station. It also covered a part of National Route 3, and involved the use of canine units, Federal Police drones and tactical divers from the National Prefecture. On July 29, federal judge María Gabriela Marrón denied the request for prosecutor substitution, on the ground of considering it procedurally incorrect. On the 31 of July, a new search using canine units was performed in the Teniente Origone precint, where in an abandoned cellblock an object that could belong to Facundo was found. His mother claims it was gifted to him by his grandmother. On August the 7th, and by request of the disappeared's family, new searches using canine units were performed in Mayor Buratovich, around the 780-kilometre mark of National Route 3. Burnt bone remains were found, which at the moment of the search could not be determined to belong to any person in particular. The young man's family belongs he was taken into a police patrol in the whereabouts of this finding. On August 8, it was revealed that the girlfriend and the brother of the disappeared had been threatened by the Buenos Aires provincial policemen in search of a confession, as well as that an illegal raid had been carried out at the family's home. The prosecutor said that these actions, despite being qualified as felony, actually exposed the will of the police to find the young man, more than being indicative of a cover-up. The disappeared's family made a second substitution request on the federal prosecutor, Santiago Ulpiano Martínez, on the 8th of August after he denied an arrest request on several policemen. The prosecutor's office bought a new SIM from Claro with the disappeared young man's number, to be analyzed by the Federal Police. With this SIM card, the police entered to Facundo's WhatsApp account from a fresh cellphone. Suspects: Since the disappearance, four Buenos Aires provincial policemen are suspected, due to changes and contradictions in their statements. Despite the family requests on their arrest, the prosecutors office considers (as of August 13th) that there is not enough evidence to jail the policemen.