The mystery of Carlitos González, the boy who was last seen in Corrientes when he was two years old, could come to an end.
Carlitos looks seriously at the camera, with his big, dark eyes and dressed in a blue sweatshirt. That image, the only one known of the boy who was two years old when he was last seen in Corrientes in December 1993, resurfaced now in the midst of the search for little Loan Danilo Peña and the unthinkable has happened: the enigma of his disappearance could come to an end.
A young woman from Buenos Aires was the key to reactivating the case when days ago she saw a publication on networks about the search for Carlitos González and recognized the photo. It was the same one that her boyfriend had saved on her cell phone and had shown it to her, telling her that it was about him when he was a kid.
“When I saw it on the networks I had a nervous breakdown,” the young woman, whose identity she preferred to keep confidential, told TN. And she stressed: “There are a million things that don’t make sense to me, but I’m sure it’s him.”
According to his story, after the initial shock, his reaction was to immediately start looking for answers. “I was very happy, I thought ‘we found him’,” recalled the woman, who contacted many people in the province of Corrientes and even with the father of that lost boy, Carlos González. Traits, dates, the coincidences were not few, but when she talked about this with her boyfriend she got another surprise. “I found an attitude that I didn’t expect, he got very angry with me and doesn’t want to take a DNA test,” she lamented.
A photo, the tip of the ball
At the beginning of their relationship, a little over a year ago, her boyfriend had posted the viral photo of Carlitos González on his WhatsApp status along with a heart and told her that it was him as a boy.
“He told me that a neighbor from Formosa had sent it to him, where he was supposedly born and lived his first years,” added the young woman. According to what she told him at that time, her partner had raised him by a grandmother, who later took him to Misiones and he only met her mother when he was 14 years old.
“There are many inconsistencies in the story he told me about his childhood,” she admitted. She also said that in the year and a half they have been dating, she has never met anyone from her partner’s family, except for a sister who is the only one who also lives in Buenos Aires.
“I spoke with her, I showed her the photo and she told me that it could be him,” he noted about the conversation he had with his sister-in-law, and added: “the sisters do not recognize him in any photo, he never told them how it was that he had just “He appeared at the age of 14.”
The photo of Carlitos González was a turning point for them. With sadness, the young woman acknowledged that there was a distance between the couple due to the active stance she took on the issue and his refusal to undergo the tests and end the uncertainty. However, more than 900 kilometers away, the dream continues.
A mole, the dimples in the smile and the hope that grows
Of all the people she contacted after coming across the photo of the missing boy on social media, the young woman spoke to Carlos González. “I shared a current photo of my boyfriend with him and the man told me that for him he was also his son because he saw him very similar, he felt that way,” she said.
She thought she was helping to open a door, but she barely stayed at the threshold, unable to overcome the unexpected resistance she encountered on the other side. “After the discussion we had, her version changed; she told me that the woman from Formosa who sent her the photo had wanted to make a joke in bad taste and that she lost contact with her,” she said.
“I will never know how that photo ended up in his gallery a year ago or why he showed it to me. I also don’t know why he refuses to take a DNA test and give that family peace of mind,” she said, adding: “Carlitos’ father deserves at least to know the truth, even if he doesn’t want to have any ties to him, but he should know that his son is not dead.”
A few days ago, TN also contacted Carlos González and when asked about this news, the man said: “When I saw the photo I felt it was him, I hope his heart softens and he gets a DNA test.”
“God is going to bless me, I am going to find him. I do not lose hope and I believe a lot in God,” said the father of the missing boy.
DNA, the key evidence
Currently there are more than 100 missing children, of which around 80 are minors and the rest are already over the age of majority. “There are four complaints a day, children are lost every day,” explained Ana Rosa Llobet, president of the NGO Missing Children Argentina to TN.
In this dramatic scenario, the association has received many calls from people who claim to have recognized one of the children who appear on the list published on its website. The role of genetic testing is key in this instance, but the subject in question does not always agree to undergo the analysis.
“If someone recognizes one of these boys, the family has to know, the Justice system has to know. And then they will act according to what the law allows,” Llobet explained. He reiterated: “Justice is the one that can determine what to do, how to handle the situation.”
However, he also clarified: “A person can refuse to have a DNA test done, the obligation to do so is quite controversial.”
The case of Carlitos Gonzalez
Carlitos was two years old when he disappeared on December 26, 1993 during a birthday party that he had attended only with his aunt. “He had gone out to play ball with other kids about 50 meters from where the adults were,” his father told this newspaper about that day that changed his life forever.
The dramatic news of the boy’s disappearance began to spread by word of mouth almost as quickly as the tale of a suspicious red car that had been seen in the rural area where the family reunion was taking place.
As the hours passed, far from fading, the track of the mysterious vehicle became increasingly stronger. “That car had a minor accident in front of a soccer field, it fell into a ditch,” said Carlitos’ father.
Then, the people who at that moment were playing a game on that field unexpectedly became key witnesses in his son’s case. “They saw that he had a little boy inside the car. The baby was crying, but they didn’t know that he was Carlitos, he had the same clothes,” González highlighted, referring to what they timely declared in court.
The red car continued its journey that day and just three weeks after Carlitos went missing, the investigation leaned towards a kidnapping and the possibility that the victim was no longer in the country. There was never, however, a ransom demand. The days turned into months, then into years and decades, but Carlos González never stopped looking for him.
Tips to follow as soon as you suspect that your child is missing
As soon as you suspect your child is missing, start calling friends and schoolmates to find out when they last saw him and what information they can give you.
- Call all family members, tell them the situation and see if they have any information.
- Find out if he took a cell phone, SUBE card or clothes
- File the report at the nearest Police Station and include your authorization to Missing Children Lost Boys of Argentina to spread the image.
- If they refuse to take it with the excuse that they have to wait 24 or 48 hours, tell them that you know that your child is in a “risk situation” and insist that they take it.
- Also request a copy of the report. Find out at the police station where the report will be forwarded, go to the indicated place, if the case has not yet arrived from the police station, request to be given a statement of the reported incident, giving you all the details and providing a photo of the minor, as recent as possible.
- To inform you of the steps to follow once the previous stages have been completed, please contact us via WhatsApp at: 11 4157 3101
- Email: [email protected]
Source: tn.com.ar
Photos: courtesy
