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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. The Justice system carried out new expert tests to advance the investigation into the disappearance of the 21-year-old trans man who was last seen in March 2021.

According to information provided to Presentes , it was a raid on the house of one of the accused, in the town of Alejandro Korn, to find some specific clues that would allow reconstructing what happened to the young man.

The search warrant was requested by prosecutor Karina Guyot and ordered by the judge of guarantees, Martín Rizzo, after a request from the young man's father, Andrés de la Torre, through the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) that collaborates in the investigation.

In the case, which since November has been classified as "double aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of sexual orientation and gender identity," there are two defendants, Luis Alberto Ramos, 37, and Oscar Alfredo Montes, 46, who have so far refused to testify. At the time, prosecutor Karina Guyot explained that splitting the case was a strategy to bring it to trial before the deadline established by the penal code.

“Here, a homicide is being investigated, but we don't have the body from that homicide, so we are searching for a body. This is happening because we have indications that a homicide occurred; however, since the case is being split into two separate investigations, the searches are being conducted in different ways,” a judicial source working on the case Presentes

The prosecutor's office emphasized that the search for Tehuel never stopped and that the searches are carried out according to the leads that appear in the case and that are evaluated as a possibility for finding the young man..

“The search is based on the available evidence. We've conducted numerous searches and haven't found any trace of the body, but we have found evidence to charge the people who are currently detained. This is a separate case from the main one, so the search is being conducted in various ways. The fact that no raids have been carried out doesn't mean the search has stopped. Because searching also means conducting DNA tests to find Tehuel. That's also part of the search, but the search hasn't stopped.”

In the case of this raid, they indicated that it was difficult to find clues, given that the neighbors in the area destroyed the house upon learning of the young man's disappearance.

Tehuel's father's request

Next week, other searches will also be carried out, also requested by Tehuel's father. "We have to wait for the results; it might take a few days, but it could take months," Andrés de la Torre Presentes

“From the judicial branch, I see that nothing is being done. I requested the last raid, but since the charges were changed, nothing has been done, even though the judge ordered that the search continue since November.”

De la Torre stated that he requested more searches because he didn't see a good performance from the police during the ones carried out last year. “There aren't qualified people doing this work, they aren't specialists. I'm going to insist as much as necessary until it's done properly. Anyway, so much time has passed and the clues fade; it's difficult to search without the certainty of finding anything, especially if Tehuel was killed. Now everything is overgrown with grass, and the weather is also covering up any traces,” he said.

He added, “I requested these searches to determine if something more serious happened there. Whether or not he was killed in that house. It’s still unknown if Tehuel was killed, but the possibility of searching for him alive was never considered. Because it’s also possible that he is alive or that he was alive,” the man emphasized. “Here, they always searched for him dead, even though there’s nothing to confirm it. There are a few drops of blood on a wall in the house, and that doesn’t mean he’s alive or dead. So I wanted to know if there was more blood to rule out negative or positive possibilities.”

“I’m going to keep investigating, I’m going to keep demanding action because they (the justice system) don’t go out into the streets. The judicial branch doesn’t care about the lives of Tehuel, Guadalupe in San Luis, or Maldonado back then; they don’t lift a finger. Fourteen months ago, I was unaware of all this; before, I said they did a good job.”

De la Torre assures that both he and his family will not stop investigating until they have a reliable lead on the young man. “Since Tehuel disappeared, I get through each day as best I can. It's not easy with a missing person. It's not the same as if they were dead and you knew where they were. With a missing person, not knowing what happened, life isn't easy. There are dates, there are moments, there are things that are hard to bear. There are times of the day, or a whole day, when you get really down, but I don't let it control me too much. First, because I'll get sick, and second, because it doesn't let me think about finding Tehuel. I want to find him, no matter what, I want to find him, I absolutely have to,” he concluded.

The possibility of human trafficking

When six months had passed since Tehuel's disappearance, his father, Andrés de la Torre, asked that hypotheses about a possible case of human trafficking be investigated .

The prosecutor's office maintains that they did investigate that line of inquiry, but there is no evidence that it is a case of human trafficking. "Three specialized human trafficking agencies, having reviewed the case, agreed that there is no indication of human trafficking," said the judicial source.

The young man was last seen on March 11, 2021. He left his house intending to meet with Luis Alberto Ramos, who had offered him a job as a waiter.