The Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing spent two days in the rural area of the municipality of Recetor, located on the border with the department of Boyacá, where search and prospecting work was carried out. This led to the recovery of a man’s body, which was taken to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences for its respective identification process.
This discovery could coincide with the characteristics of Alexandra’s father, who has been missing since the end of 1997 in an area surrounding the municipality of Recetor.
“Although many remains of stones, glass and deposits were found over many years, human bone remains were indeed found and we ended the intervention with a positive balance for the Search Unit, but above all for the family,” said Luisa Fernanda Ruge Velasco. , lead anthropologist of the forensic team.
The beggining
On one side of the road that borders the mountains, the UBPD forensic investigation team prepared supplies and some items to camp that night. Meanwhile, on the backs of two horses, the essential tool for digging the earth was loaded.
Alexandra and her mother, wearing a poncho and hat, with a suitcase on their back, participated in this humanitarian action.
The young woman remembers that that day would be her deceased brother’s birthday. She says that before leaving the house, she looked at the sky and asked as a gift to be able to find her father.
After almost an hour of traveling through unstable paths that extended along the ascent, the team reached the point where they would spend the night and take advantage of the time for search actions. Unloading the luggage, the group entered a wooded area.
Fallen walls and an old pipe surround the site of forensic interest.
“I hope that all those people who have their loved ones missing can find them,” said Alexandra*’s mother with the Bible in her hand, while offering a prayer before starting the day.
Alexandra told the forensic team that her father, Alberto*, had left town because he separated from Doña Edilma*, her mother. They say that he was prohibited from returning to Recetor. But apparently, she loved him more for wanting to see her little daughter again. It is presumed that this is why he returned, but he was held against his will.
That was the last time they saw him.
It was not until 2013, when Alexandra*, being of legal age and still with some fear, dared to make her case public and it was in this way that she managed to begin the search path. According to versions she has been told, her father was killed and then abandoned near a pipe.
Almost 11 years after starting the search, they arrived at the place that the extrajudicial and humanitarian investigation indicated. While there, it took all the hands present in the place to raise a cement structure and reveal the site where the prospecting would be.
The first day the work lasted for almost 10 continuous hours.
“It was frustrating because nothing appeared and one was filled with mixed feelings. Everything was going like this until a boot appeared, but then it was already dark and she had to wait one more day to continue searching. That night, it was difficult to fall asleep,” said Alexandra*-.
On the second day, work began very early. In addition to the boot that had been found the day before, bone structures and some disintegrated clothing items were found.
Joy and sadness overwhelmed mother and daughter, who were accompanied during these two days, also by a psychosocial professional from the Victims Unit.
Likewise, the UBPD team, after two hard days of work, harbored feelings shared with the family.
The afternoon was about to fall, so the team prepared to gather the tools; Several meters away, the waters of a pipe hit the flow with greater force. Each part of the discovery was packaged and taken into custody according to forensic protocol.
While they were descending from the mountain, Alexandra shared a dream she had: “I was walking and it was like a river, and when I passed to the other side, my father was there and he told me: Daughter, there are several of us here, but don’t worry that I I’m fine. “I always dream that he holds my hand, me being a girl.”
To conclude the recovery of this body, the UBPD previously held several dialogues with possible sources of information. Due to the humanitarian and extrajudicial nature of the Search Unit for Persons Reported as Missing, the identity of these contributors is kept confidential and the information provided to the UBPD cannot be used in any way as a judicial source.
Already on the road that leads to the urban area of the municipality, Alexandra shared one last reflection with the team: “Having found the body, I hope it is him. And if not, at least that body that the UBPD rescued, give satisfaction and joy to a family that is also looking for their loved one.”
“I hope this is the last time I have to look for my dad.”
Source: Missing Persons Search Unit