Identified the remains of the young man whose disappearance is being investigated by the police of the province of Buenos Aires

Cristina Castro shows a photograph of her son in Bahía Blanca, on July 14. HORACIO CULACIATTI / AFP

Facundo Astudillo Castro never came to Bahía Blanca to try to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend.

Justice confirmed this Wednesday that the bone remains found in a crab on the outskirts of this city on August 15 belong to the young man who disappeared four months ago, according to the genetic analysis carried out by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF).

The case of Facundo Astudillo casts a shadow over the Buenos Aires Police, accused of participating in some way in the death, and has reached a high social resonance.

Facundo's mother was received by President Alberto Fernández.

It is now necessary to clarify how the young man died and if he did so in the place where he was found, outside the itinerary between Pedro Luro, the Buenos Aires town where he left on April 30, and Bahía Blanca, 120 kilometers to the south.

“Fly high my child, let your drummer sound so loud that it does not give peace to those who have hurt you so much.

Your witch will watch over you, for justice until we embrace again ”, said her mother, Cristina Castro, through social networks.

Hours before, the federal judge of Bahía Blanca María Gabriel Marrón had confirmed the positive result of the DNA test carried out in the genetics laboratory of the EAAF.

What happened to Facundo?

Truth and justice.

https://t.co/yopu6NKe1b

- Provincial Commission for Memory (@CPMemoria) September 2, 2020

The advance report on the expert results of the EAAF and the Forensic Medical Corps "concluded based on different anthropological, dental, radiological and genetic examinations, that all human remains belong to Facundo Astudillo Castro," the court reported in an official statement.

The Provincial Commission for Memory, the plaintiff in the case of alleged forced disappearance, also confirmed the result of the genetic expertise and asked to "respect the privacy of Cristina and her family" through Twitter.

Justice is now awaiting the final results of the autopsy to know if it is possible to establish the causes and the date of Astudillo Castro's death.

The skeletonized body of this 22-year-old young man was found semi-submerged by a fisherman in the Cola de Ballena channel, a few kilometers from Bahía Blanca.

When searching the area, investigators found a shoe nearby that Cristina Castro claimed belonged to her son.

The young man left his home on April 30 and hitchhiked along National Route 3. He had fought with his mother because she was opposed to the relationship with his ex-girlfriend and that he was traveling in full quarantine.

He was intercepted by the police for the first time in Mayor Buratovich, 30 kilometers from his home.

There they worked out an act for violating the mandatory isolation decreed by the covid-19 pandemic and informed his mother.

Soon after, her son phoned her and she scolded him for disobeying her until the call was cut off.

According to the police, that same day he was detained again in the next town, Lieutenant Origone, but the agents say they let him continue and a woman agreed to take him in her truck.

The version of Astudillo Castro's mother and the lawyers in the complaint is very different, because they maintain that she was a victim of police violence.

Among the contradictions that stand out in the story of the security forces is the discovery of an amulet of the young man in a disused cell in the police station of Lieutenant Origone.

For the lawsuit, the amulet proves that it was there, a fact denied by the agents, and gives force to their hypothesis that the police tried to dispose of the body, already lifeless in the cangrejal.

Both the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations echoed this case by demanding speed and completeness in the investigation.

Cristina Castro was received two weeks ago by the Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, who spoke after identifying the body: “Facundo's mother called me and gave me the bad news that the remains they found belonged to her son.

I want to tell him that he is counting on me and Axel [Kicillof, governor of Buenos Aires], we are both committed to knowing what happened, "he said Wednesday during an official ceremony.

“It's Facundo.

I still don't know who leaked information two days ago, but now we do know that it is him.

They were days of great anxiety, without being able to sleep.

We are going to continue supporting the cover of forced disappearance ”, wrote his mother in the magazine

referring to the notes published days ago by the Argentine media, in which they anticipated the identity of the skeletal remains.

“The time has come to bring my skinny man back home, and then continue fighting, because everything continues until I know what happened to him.

From Justice I only expect justice.

Take off the bandages, ear muffs and mask ”, he concluded.