In a quiet Madrid suburb, a time when cell phones, security cameras, and digital traces were scarce, an abducted young woman named Anabel Segura vanished from the upscale La Moraleja neighborhood. The era relied on old-fashioned, face-to-face contact, with few credit cards and almost no GPS to aid investigators. Social networks did not exist to spread word quickly, and information traveled slowly through the usual channels.
The kidnappers called from public payphones and demanded a ransom of 150 million pesetas. A tape recorded over Mecano’s latest album formed the backdrop for their message, a relic of a period when home entertainment and crime intersected in unexpectedly personal ways.
The incident occurred on April 12, 1993, and the police faced a handmade, almost nostalgic manhunt that required patience and ingenuity. The investigation featured on television programs and benefited from insights provided by observers and international experts, including a German analyst who advised on acoustic methods to locate the attackers.
Anabel Segura, 22 years old, was the eldest daughter in her family. Her father, José Segura, a petrochemical businessman, and Sigrid Foles were closely involved in the case. On that April day, Anabel was preparing for her fourth year of business studies at a private Madrid university and her family briefly vacationed on the Costa del Sol. Rosa, the housekeeper, remained at the residence, while Anabel was out for a run with her walkman when she disappeared from the affluent La Moraleja area.
a white minivan
Soon after, two men emerged from a white van and forcibly took Anabel with a knife. A nearby witness, Antonio, who managed a local Scandinavian school, described two young men placing the girl into the vehicle but could not provide a license plate due to limited view and memory. Police later turned to hypnotic sessions to jog memories, including two specialists who urged listening to the sea’s rhythm, yet the results remained inconclusive.
The night before the kidnapping, Emilio, known by some as el Facha, casually asked his wife what she would do with 130 million pesetas if the chance arose. Two days after the abduction, the kidnappers began a campaign of calls from public payphones, attempting to trace funds and responses. At the time, tracing calls was far less precise than today, with investigators knowing only that the calls moved through multiple exchanges in Vallecas and Entrevias.
Rescue by taxi
The first ransom call came from a hesitant, stuttering man, followed by a second, more composed voice demanding 150 million pesetas for Anabel’s release. Negotiations unfolded with repeated attempts to secure payment as public figures and law enforcement watched closely.
One early disruption involved a taxi driver who carried the ransom in a gym bag. Authorities coordinated strategic placements along major routes, including a highway near a city renowned for its bridges and plains, hoping to intercept the criminals without tipping them off to every move. Yet the initial attempt failed to yield the payout, and the chase continued along a winding trail of leads.
A second ransom attempt occurred days later, with hopes of collecting the money near a major national highway. The lead investigator, driving the taxi that carried the money and potential return of Anabel, rode with two officers as they tried to corner the suspects. One officer rode in the back under a blanket, another sat in the trunk, while a vigilant special-forces unit watched the scene.
sleeping man
One suspect, exhausted from the day’s stress, slept at a bus stop while his partner tried to evade capture, wandering through nearby woods. The long night of pursuit eventually led authorities toward Cuenca, where an exhausted suspect was awakened by a uniformed officer and forced to explain his presence. The arrest shifted the investigation but did not quickly restore Anabel’s safety.
Two suspects clashed under questioning, and their testimonies eventually pointed investigators toward the location where Anabel’s body was found, well after the initial disappearance. In the tense aftermath, the ransom bag resurfaced, and officers arrested a larger ring that had misjudged the crime and the identities of collaborators. The case turned on whether investigators could verify intimate knowledge only the kidnappers would know, such as specific details about Anabel’s mother’s German birthplace.
tape deception
The kidnapper instructed his wife, Felisa, to record a ransom tape in which she impersonated Anabel Segura. Felisa, a mother of four facing personal hardship, complied under pressure. The recording reached the Segura family home in La Moraleja on June 28, 1993, and lasted about 90 minutes. The voice did not resemble Anabel’s, a clue the family quickly recognized as a deception rather than a real reunion with their daughter.
“Chili Pepper” and Mecano
Following the impersonation, the kidnapper’s voice threatened further action if demands were not met, and the background music from Mecano’s Aidalai album played behind the recorded message. The odd layering of threats and a familiar tune created eerie echoes for investigators and the public alike. The tape hinted at the criminals’ familiarity with the region and the family’s social circle, while signaling the operation’s complexity. The term pepper, a local slang reference, appeared in police communications as the investigation progressed.
Investigators widened the circle of inquiry to associates, seeking a man who lived in Vallecas and whose routine involved a van and a family role masking other activities. The investigation began to unfold with a sense that a trusted neighbor or close acquaintance might be involved, as early leads pointed toward someone connected to the local community.
Arrests and interviews followed as detectives questioned close confidants and associates who might have orchestrated or supported the kidnapping. The inquiry grew into a broader search for the conspiracy behind Anabel’s disappearance, with officials testing every plausible theory against mounting evidence.
Prisons and Television
By September 1994, investigators sought judicial permission to present the ransom tape to trusted inmates in prisons to see if anyone recognized the voice. The effort extended to international collaboration with German authorities and sound analysis experts, who helped select the segments for public broadcast on a television program directed by a popular host. The multilingual, cross-border approach became essential as media coverage reached tens of thousands of viewers and tips flooded in from across the country.
In November 1994, trailers of the public search were aired, and more than 30,000 tips poured in. Police followed up on as many as 10,000 of them, sifting through a wide range of possibilities while seeking definitive connections to the crime. By May 1995, a citizen named Emilio, often described as the delivery man with the white van, emerged as a credible lead that would shape subsequent investigations.
Emilio Muñoz Guadix, Felisa García, and other figures were eventually implicated as the case expanded beyond a simple abduction. The investigation examined personal histories and neighborhoods, unraveling a network that linked social standing, livelihoods, and criminal acts. Each new piece of information helped law enforcement narrow the search for Anabel and uncover the motive behind the crime.
Emilio and the conspirators
Emilio Muñoz Guadix and Felisa, his wife, faced serious charges for their involvement in the kidnapping. The couple, along with Candido Ortiz, were linked to Anabel’s death and burial in a distant site near Numancia de la Sagra. After a lengthy trial, the suspects received lengthy prison terms, and the case became a landmark example of how a coordinated network could exploit a family’s vulnerability for ransom. In later years, the case continued to influence legal discussions about criminal partnerships, witness protection, and media usage to generate public tips.
The night before the tragedy concluded, Emilio reportedly confessed to his wife that debts tied to his churro business had driven him to the crime. This motive, revealed in later testimony, showed how financial pressures can distort judgments and escalate violence. The case ended with arrests and a troubling legacy that would inform future counter-crime efforts in Spain and beyond.