The body of
Benjamín Gutiérrez
, the 3-year-old boy who had been missing since last year in Tucumán, was found inside a bag and Justice suspects that his parents killed him. The couple will be investigated on Thursday for "homicide aggravated by the relationship."
The case shocks the Tucumán town of Atahona. According to
La Gaceta
, the little boy had been wanted since February 20 when his grandmothers reported that they stopped seeing Benjamín in the last visits they received from his parents, since last year.
The remains appeared after
an excavation
carried out by professionals from the Scientific Fiscal Investigation Team (ECIF) of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), together with police forces and firefighters from Bella Vista and Yerba Buena.
The body was found near a lagoon, two kilometers from his house, in Atahona. It was during a search operation ordered by prosecutor Miguel Varela, head of the Homicide and Serious Attacks against Persons Prosecutor's Office of the Concepción Judicial Center (CJC).
“We have found bone remains of a complete body, whose age would be the same as that of little Benjamin. In a burlap bag we found bones and hair that we have collected to be sent to the Forensic Medical Corps where they will be analyzed and subjected to rigorous tests," said prosecutor Varela once the discovery was made.
Benjamín Gutiérrez, the 3-year-old boy who was missing and whose body was found in a bag.
The search began on Tuesday afternoon based on testimonies from neighbors who marked the area where they used to see the father, suspected of the crime. The work had to be suspended at night due to darkness and the thickness of the vegetation. The operation restarted this morning at 8, the MPF reported.
To speed up the work, a backhoe with a mechanical shovel was available. In addition, the MPF forensic archaeologist, in charge of coordinating the tasks, and a dog search specialist, dependent on the Police Fire Division, had key participation. It was precisely the dog who alerted the investigators in the middle of the search, guiding them to the place where the body was found next to a blanket.
The complaint
The report for the disappearance of Benjamín Gutiérrez was made by his grandmothers on February 20. But they had already stopped seeing the baby in 2023. According to the women, when they asked their children about the third and youngest of their grandchildren, they told them that he
was in another relative's house or gave some other type of information. of excuse
.
Over time, the grandmothers became suspicious and asked Benjamin's two little brothers. The oldest of them told his paternal grandmother, Mercedes Luna, that
“Benja had suffered an accident, that a dog had bitten her face and she had died,”
the woman indicated in dialogue with
TN
.
After this, the woman visited all the hospitals in the area looking for which of them had received a child with that condition. However, in none of the hospitals were records found that Benjamín had been treated.
“There we became aware that he was missing,” said Mercedes, who decided to file a disappearance report. Although the woman's exposure at the police station was last February, it is believed that her grandson has been missing from her home for approximately a year.
MG