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This March 11th marked two years since the night Tehuel De la Torre, a young trans man, went to a job interview in Alejandro Korn, Buenos Aires, and disappeared. The investigation continues with two people in custody—Luis Alberto Ramos, his alleged employer, and Oscar Alfredo Montes, a friend of Ramos—and is now before Criminal Court No. 2 in La Plata. 

A year ago , at the request of prosecutor Karina Guyot, Judge Martín Rizzo of the La Plata Court of Guarantees No. 8 sent the case to trial for the arrested men. They are accused of "aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of sexual orientation and gender identity," which carries a sentence of life imprisonment ( section 4 of article 80 of the Argentine Penal Code). 

At that time, the court also accepted the splitting of the case, meaning that one part remains open to continue the search for the missing trans youth. This work continues under the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor's Office. In 2022, they ordered a more thorough search of the neighborhood where Luis A. Ramos was seen in the hours following Tehuel's disappearance. But so far, the results have yielded no clues as to what happened to Tehuel. After this latest search with trained dogs and divers in the nearby stream, no new information emerged that would warrant similar efforts.

How to search for Tehuel 2 years later

In response to an inquiry from Presentes, the San Vicente Prosecutor's Office, which is in charge of continuing the search, explained that today the work is focused on tracing cases of unidentified deceased persons or unidentified skeletal remains that have given rise to criminal cases, from the date of the young trans man's disappearance until the present day - both in the province of Buenos Aires and in the City of Buenos Aires and at the national level.

For this task, inquiries were made with the National Registry of Persons and the various judicial departments were asked to report whether criminal proceedings of that nature were initiated within that period. 

So far, initial reports have been negative; however, responses are awaited from numerous offices. Should any viable information emerge in any of the cases, a copy of the autopsy report will be requested first. Depending on the results of the forensic analysis regarding the victim's sex and probable age, a DNA comparison may then be conducted.

Why is this a homicide case and not a missing person case?

According to the evidence gathered in the investigation, the Prosecutor's Office concluded that "in the period approximately between 9:00 p.m. on March 11, 2021 and 4:33 a.m. on March 12 of the same year, inside the home located at 1203 Mansilla Street in the town of Alejandro Korn, in the district of San Vicente, two adult males, identified in the case file as Luis Alberto Ramos and Oscar Alfredo Montes, intentionally caused the death of Tehuel De La Torre—who identified as male—motivated by hatred of his gender identity and sexual orientation, using methods not yet determined, given that the defendants managed to conceal his mortal remains until this day…".

What is the evidence so far?

The evidence highlighted in the indictment makes it clear that Tehuel left his house, took the bus and arrived in Alejandro Korn. 

• This was confirmed with information from the SUBE card and from the report and partial expert analysis that showed the geolocation of his cell phone approximately 70 meters from Luis Alberto Ramos's residence. His last connection was registered there at 00:24 on March 12, 2021. Furthermore, in one of the raids at that location, parts of Tehuel's cell phone were found and identified by their IMEI numbers.

• In that same location, bloodstains were also found on one of the walls. Based on an expert analysis comparing this evidence with a blood sample from Tehuel's brother, it was concluded that they matched.

• Another piece of evidence pointing to Ramos and Montes is the discovery of a piece of burnt fabric. It was found to be similar to the jacket worn by the young trans man. Furthermore, while the use of any petroleum-based fuel was not confirmed, it was established that the fabric was burned at the scene.

• Furthermore, Judge Martín Rizzo listed in his ruling the contradictions in the detainees' statements. Among them, Ramos denied having any communication with Montes (the other defendant) after March 11. However, Telefónica's report on his phone's incoming and outgoing call logs indicates that he called Montes on March 11, 2021, at 1:56:43 PM, the following day at 2:09:17 PM, and on March 13, 2021, at 5:49:20 PM.
• Furthermore, Judge Martín Rizzo listed in his ruling the contradictions in the detainees' statements. Among them, Ramos denied having any communication with Montes (the other defendant) after March 11. However, Telefónica's report on his phone's incoming and outgoing call logs indicates that he called Montes on March 11, 2021, at 1:56:43 PM, the following day at 2:09:17 PM, and on March 13, 2021, at 5:49:20 PM.

The contradictions of the accused

The footage from the San Vicente Monitoring Center, as well as the report from the Link network, revealed additional data that contradicts the statements made by the defendant Ramos. This is further corroborated by the telephone records, which suggest that there may have been an exchange of communications between Ramos and Tehuel De La Torre on Thursday, March 11th of this year, between 7:28 PM and 7:34 PM. This contradicts Ramos's testimony.

Montes initially claimed that he did not know and had never seen Tehuel De La Torre. He stated that he did know "Luigi" (Luis Ramos), who turned out to be a neighbor. He also stated that the last time he saw "Luigi" was on Thursday, March 10, 2021, at his house at noon, where they shared some beers. However, according to forensic analysis of Ramos's cell phone, there are 28 photographs taken on March 11, 2021. In the image taken at 8:42 p.m., both defendants can be seen with Tehuel de la Torre, presumably at what was later determined to be Montes's residence.

According to the preliminary report from the Digital Analysis and Investigation Unit (UAID), the same cell phone contains a timeline with multimedia files. All of them are from March 11, 2021, and include, in addition to the aforementioned photo, other images and videos documenting the meeting between Montes and Ramos at their respective homes, which had been deleted from the device.

Where is Tehuel: New Anniversary

For many people, Tehuel's case is like a blow that takes your breath away, paralyzing you with fear and pain in the first moment. It forces society as a whole to react.

“I’m not a friend of Tehuel’s; I’m part of the self-organized movement because when I saw that a trans kid disappeared and how it all unfolded, I felt a connection. I’m non-binary, and I know what it’s like to suffer from people’s malice and morbid curiosity. I’m also Niko’s parent; he’s a preteen in the middle of his transition. I feel like it could be me, or my child, or any of us. The silence is heartbreaking; it breeds anger and helplessness,” says Naty Carrera, a member of the Self-Organized Movement for Tehuel. “We chose to do something, to try to do something, so that this doesn’t just fade away. I’m independent, like many others who are part of Self-Organized Movement,” she adds in an interview with Presentes. She asserts that “Tehuel was never searched for alive; they always looked for him dead.” She also emphasized that “this year there was complete silence; most media outlets do not recall the search nor do they work on related issues; for example, the transvestite-trans quota, which is not implemented and is fundamental to preventing new cases.”

Two years after Tehuel's disappearance, the group Autoconvocadxs por Tehuel (Self-Organized for Tehuel) is calling for a rally this Saturday.Starting at 4 PM, the gathering will take place in front of the Buenos Aires Province House, located at Av. Callao 237 (CABA). An open radio broadcast will be held, followed by a march to the National Congress building to conclude the day's activities with an artivism event and the reading of a statement.

The story, in a docuseries

This Saturday marks the premiere of the fourth episode of the docuseries "Disappeared in Democracy," titled "Where is Tehuel?", produced by Nota al Pie, a media outlet rooted in community communication and the grassroots economy. The episode will feature testimonies from family members, friends, and others involved in the case. It can be viewed on Nota al Pie's YouTube channel , where the three previous episodes are already available. The aim of these productions is to bring visibility to the struggles of victims from diverse backgrounds.

There is a reward of 5 million pesos for anyone who provides reliable information. More details at this link.