National Police units continued their operations for the fourth consecutive day this Friday as they conducted a concentrated search at the Toledo de Ángel waste facility for an 11 year old boy who disappeared in Madrid along with his 17 year old cousin, Fernando. The body of the boy was recovered from a waste site, prompting a full-scale response from investigative teams.
Judicial Police officers, canine units, the Technical Response Operational Group GOIT, and the Scientific Police are taking part in the ongoing effort, utilizing excavating equipment and other heavy machinery to widen the search and secure potential evidence from the site.
During the night between Wednesday and Thursday, authorities employed a police helicopter equipped with thermal imaging cameras to scan the area. The thermal footage is currently being analyzed by investigators to identify any heat signatures that could indicate hidden remains or overlooked clues.
The two children had been seen in Madrid on December 10 after visiting the Hiper Usera on Calle General Ricardos. Previous sightings placed them at various locations in Toledo, including the bus station, a hotel, and an advertising center. After those appearances, their trail faded. Fernando’s body was later found in a dumpsite near Toledo, intensifying the search and prompting a broader review of surveillance footage and travel records.
Starting this Tuesday, authorities have been reassessing a defined area within the landfill, focusing on the precise location where Fernando’s body was discovered. The site spans roughly the size of a football field and contains an estimated 9000 to 10000 tons of garbage, a challenging environment for investigators and rescue teams alike.
Toledo Ecopark is responsible for processing waste from 196 municipalities in the region, serving a population that exceeds 600,000 residents. The scale of the operation underscores the complexity of locating missing persons within large municipal waste streams and the coordinated efforts required by law enforcement, public services, and environmental management agencies. The ongoing inquiry continues to piece together the movements of the two youths and to determine the sequence of events that led to this tragic outcome. Authorities urge anyone with information to come forward, emphasizing the importance of community cooperation in solving cases of this nature. Citations from law enforcement briefings and local agencies are attributed to official sources.