This is the search for Loan Danilo Peña, the 5-year-old boy who disappeared in Corrientes

The search operation Loan Danilo Peña (5) in the rural area of ​​9 de Julio, Corrientes, entered its fifth day without any major developments. Nearly 500 police officers, volunteer firefighters, the Gendarmerie, the Federal Police and the Army participate in the searches in three rings that were set up around the El Algarrobal placewhere he was last seen Thursday afternoon.

Hopes of finding the boy increased this weekend when rescuers They found his sneakers and footprints in the mud, near a reflecting pool of the Las Lagunas ranch, about five kilometers from where it was last seen. The data was revealed by the Minister of Security of Corrientes, Buenaventura Duarte.

The rescuers began to leave cones with food in strategic places in the different search rings with a double purpose: on the one hand, to ensure the child’s food and, in turn, to detect his presence in the area.

The anguish of the boy’s family increased in the last hours because on Sunday night there was intense rainfall at times, although it stopped shortly after. This Monday the sky is overcast, with drizzle and temperatures that have not yet dropped much.

On Saturday night, a team from the Misiones Police traveled to 9 de Julio with sniffer dogs and a drone equipped with an infrared camera and the possibility of moving around five kilometers around. The device has a range of 45 minutes, but has an extra set of batteries that doubles the flight time.

Added to the technology are the land patrols that rake extensive fields in search of the boy who, on Thursday after noon, left his grandmother’s house with an uncle and a couple who were his friends, towards an orange plantation.

This Sunday, hundreds of people marched to the 9 de Julio police station to ask for Loan’s appearance, while others set up chains of prayers to ask for divine protection of the lost boy.

That demonstration caused some of the police personnel who were involved in the search to return to the town to reinforce security for fear of incidents.

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The boy was last seen on Thursday, when he entered an orange field with a group of three adults and six children.

On Sunday evening, Minister Duarte arrived at the operation area and found a small group of rescuers, for which he immediately arranged the arrival of more police.

The three adults who were with Loan said that the boy grabbed an orange and told them that he was going to return to his father. The story they gave would have had some cracks, which is why the prosecutor asked that they remain detained and charged them with the crime of “abandonment of person”.

Loan is the youngest of eight siblings and on Thursday he arrived with his father on horseback to visit his grandmother in the rural area of ​​9 de Julio. One of the little boy’s older brothers clings to the hope of finding him alive because “he is very strong, he is alive, he always had a lot of energy, he never got tired.”

The Minister of Security of Corrientes explained that this Monday the agents involved in the search for Loan have planned rake nearly 10,000 hectares with the support of a helicopter and more drones.

The deputy commander of the Bella Vista Volunteer Fire Station said that this Monday the search operation began at 6:30. “We are deploying around 300 people to the area where Loan was last seen,” he detailed.

Regarding the conditions in which they must work, he said that “it is totally cloudy and, for the moment, the weather is collaborating with the flight of drones in the area. “It is a plain area with bushes and grasslands up to one and a half meters high.”

“Not having sunlight, the vision inside the grasslands it becomes very difficult. In order to penetrate the bushes, it is indicated that the distance between man and man during raking is not more than five meters,” he explained.

For his part, the deputy director of Civil Defense, Bruno Lovinson, highlighted that “new footprints were found. They are not fresh, but they do add to the child’s tracking. Since yesterday (Sunday) we are working on a new grid.”

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Buenaventura Duarte spoke about the operation and asked: “I hope he is alive.”

“We are working with drones, thermal cameras, helicopters, two planes and groups of paragliders that are dedicated to the search and rescue of people. Added to this are all the infantry personnel, who have extensive experience in cases of this type” , he claimed.

“In principle, the footprints found would be those of feet. Samples of vomit and fecal matter found in the area are also being analyzed,” which raises expectations of finding the child alive, Lovinson added.