In July 1995, an anonymous call set off a chain of events that drew the nation into a tense search. Anabel Segura, a Madrid resident who had been missing for more than two years, was located in a barracks between Avilés and Gijón. The discovery sparked one of the largest police operations ever seen in the region.
Nearly three hundred officers from the National Police and the Civil Guard combed the area, checking roadways, inspecting wrecks, and verifying the identities of drivers and passengers. The investigation stretched across large swaths of Avilés, Gozón, Carreño, and Corvera. The tip originated from a woman in Madrid who claimed that Anabel was being held in a seaside barracks guarded by two men and a woman near Avilés and Gijón.
As days passed, the Asturias search faced mounting challenges. It later emerged that the plan had gaps, and tragically Anabel Segura died shortly after her abduction in La Moraleja in 1993. The events of that April 12 echo through the case, underscoring the chaos and urgency that followed the initial alert.
Segura, then nineteen, was abducted by criminals described as lacking competence. Police analysts, employing one of the era’s most advanced voice analysis tools, identified nods to the word bolo, helping to steer the investigation toward an eventual breakthrough.
Many believed the kidnapping had stretched over two years and five months, a duration longer than any similar case on record, including the famed Olot pharmacist incident. Yet the truth proved different: Anabel was held for merely four hours. Her captors, unsure how to proceed, failed to plan and ended her life shortly after. The shocking outcome intensified a national mobilization, giving rise to citizen platforms that connected a powerful movement marked by the yellow ribbons worn by thousands.
Across Spain, volunteers followed hints from the abduction site. A gardener near the Scandinavian school heard the screams and glimpsed the vehicle with two men. Names surfaced—Emilio Munoz and Candido Ortizit—alongside evidence of a wife’s involvement, Felisa Garcia. The family was approached with demands for money, with as much as 150 million old pesetas, and at times friends and foes alike attempted to pay the ransom twice. Despite the relentless pursuit, Anabel had already died. By September 1995, investigators closed in on the suspects, who reportedly confessed to the crimes and led authorities to the body’s location. [Citation: National Police Report, 1995] This confession finally tied the threads together and sealed the case in the public memory, a reminder of how fragile a life can be when violence disrupts a family’s world.