The trial over the disappearance of Loan Danilo Peña begins this Tuesday in the province of Corrientes, two years after his disappearance shocked the country. 

The proceedings will involve 17 defendants, 186 witnesses, and a voluminous case file. 

However, the boy’s whereabouts remain unknown, and there is no established theory to explain his disappearance.

The court will review the facts of the case and the accusations against each defendant.

Prosecutor Tamara Pourcel was emphatic: “We hope that one of them will break,” she said about the accused, who remain in pretrial detention. 

Investigators maintain that the boy was abducted during a family lunch in the town of 9 de Julio on June 13, 2024.

Key aspects and hypotheses

The trial will be held at a National Gendarmerie compound under tight security. 

Key evidence includes analyses by tracking-dog experts, phone records and vehicle movements during the time of Loan’s disappearance, as well as numerous contradictions in witness statements.

Investigators are pursuing the possibility that the case involved organized crime or human trafficking, while the theory that the boy got lost on his own has been largely ruled out.

Hearings are expected to continue for at least six months, with key testimonies — including that of the boy’s parents — scheduled during the early stages of the proceedings.

Who are the defendants

Two groups — family members and alleged advisers — will stand trial on charges linked to the boy’s disappearance.

The case file divides the defendants into two categories. The first is the so-called “lunch group”, made up of those who were with the boy on the day he disappeared.

They include his aunt, Laudelina Peña, her husband, Antonio Benítez and family friends Mónica del Carmen Millapi, Daniel “Fierrito” Ramírez, María Victoria Caillava, and Carlos Pérez.

Former police commissioner Walter Maciel is also among the accused.

According to the prosecution, members of this group face charges including child abduction, concealment and obstruction of justice.

A second group of ten people is accused of carrying out actions that allegedly hindered the investigation.

What will happen next 

Following Tuesday’s opening session, questioning of the defendants will begin. On Wednesday, the accused will have the opportunity to testify before the court and present their version of events.

The testimonial phase is scheduled to begin on Thursday, with the first witnesses from the list of 186 expected to take the stand. 

Among the most closely watched testimonies will be those of the boy’s parents, María Noguera and José Peña, which are expected during the opening days of the trial.

The proceedings will be heard by the Federal Oral Criminal Court of Corrientes, made up of judges Fermín Ceroleni, Eduardo Belforte and Simón Bracco.

Ahead of the trial’s opening, prosecutor Tamara Pourcel said the prosecution’s objective is to reconstruct what happened to the boy and to persuade one of the defendants to break the silence that has surrounded the case for more than two years.

“We are fully committed and eager to find out what happened,” the prosecutor told news outlet TN.

Pourcel stressed that investigators are keeping all possible lines of inquiry open. “No hypothesis is being ruled out, neither human trafficking nor whether it was an accident,” she said.

The prosecutor also referred to the 17 defendants who will stand trial, arguing that they possess key information that could help clarify the child’s disappearance.

“These 17 people who are charged are the ones who know what happened to Loan,” she said.

With information from Ámbito