“Adri, I want to take a walk.” Martin paused on the couch, turning away from his brother. “I need to clear my head, I have to go out,” he insisted. “But you’re here to eat,” Adrian replied. The clock neared 1:00 pm on November 12. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry, for the walk I’ll be back before lunch.” Martin vanished, and he did not return.
Alerts lit up: posters with his photo, calls on social networks, and neighbors spoke in hushed tones. A search notice read: Wanted for 23-year-old Martin Fyrla missing in Santander. No one knew where he was.
A music lover who cherished nature, Martin’s family noted in a caption. Photos provided by the family.
He had left home for a while. The table remained set, and Adrian wondered if his brother needed more time alone. In the meantime, a man from Cueto, Santander, mapped a route with his daughters and raised the alarm. A swimmer had vanished in a dangerous zone near the coast. A helicopter skimmed the water and the search carried on as the sea churned. The moment echoed with tension and uncertainty.
“I’m feeling overwhelmed. I need to walk,” Adrián described the sentiment, recalling his brother, a well known DJ and music producer. “I’m nervous, confused… CASO ABIERTO, the Prensa Ibérica portal on events and research, reported the scene. She walked, did yoga, and then she disappeared.”
Warning notices appeared: Martin Fyrla’s disappearance, the young man photographed in the background by the family.
“I stopped seeing”
The hiker waited on the spot as emergency crews reached the Cueto area near cliffs that hosted surfers in the Giant Cow competition. A witness described a swimmer who appeared calm but others warned of rough sea and strong currents. The witness could not be sure the swimmer heard orders as the helicopter lifted away into the gray sky.
Phone on airplane mode
Back at Martin’s home, the afternoon wore on. “She might be with a friend or out for a walk,” Adrian remembered thinking. The mood was heavy because Martin had recently lost his mother. He had been close to her and the loss left him unsettled. He had contemplated a journey to India but never stepped out. Nature drew him in; he disliked the cold logic of modern life and the sense that everything is increasingly mechanical. His brother recalled these beliefs with a mix of concern and admiration.
Calls to his mobile produced no answer. Martin had put his phone on airplane mode as soon as he left the door, a habit he used to avoid interruptions and to be present in the moment. The family did not find this surprising.
Night fell and Martin still did not return. The search persisted, with a plan to check on Sunday given the stormy weather. The family kept hope alive while preparing for every possible outcome.
“Currently, police are looking for one bather and two missing persons, Martin, until proven otherwise as the bather himself.”
At the police station, the details were gathered. Martin Fyrla, 23 years old, about 1.80 meters tall, lean and with a long hair and goatee, wearing red pants and a dark gray sweatshirt with blue and yellow shoes, had vanished after leaving the house before lunch. The police suggested he might have been near sea cliffs in Cueto. A patrol noted that a swimmer could be involved, and the search expanded as reports of rough seas and a violent storm arrived.
Adrián remembered the detectives saying the swimmer might be his brother, but nothing was certain. The family cooperated with raids and divers as weather allowed, while the sea roared through the coast. The community watched for signs and listened for updates, hoping for a safe return.
His sweatshirt and sneakers
One of the most promising leads led rescuers to Cueto, about half an hour from home, where the witness said a young man swam. Days later volunteers from across the area found a sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers in a rocky, hard-to-reach spot. The family confirmed they belonged to Martin. The shoes had been left untied, implying he took them off before entering the water. His phone was not recovered.
Police linked two disappearances in the area, with investigators leaning toward the likelihood that Martin was swimming and failed to escape the danger in time. The family recalled that similar cases have appeared in remote regions years later, underscoring the eerie unpredictability of such events.
Adrián and Martin’s family photo captured a moment from happier times, taken in the same region where the search continued. The family pressed on with the search – awaiting boats, drones, and divers meant to shorten the distance between hopeful speculation and fact.
“I think my brother might have been swept away by the sea, perhaps 99 percent of the possibilities point there, but I still hold a small 1 percent that it could be something else,” he explained. Regardless, the family kept faith that Martin would reveal the truth when the time came. If he is in the water or elsewhere, only he knows what happened.
While suicide was discussed as a possibility, the family did not accept it as a conclusion. To them, the image of Martin swimming peacefully persisted. He did not leap from a cliff; he would have swum away while trying to keep calm. The family refused to abandon the hope that he might reappear, either in the sea or somewhere on land.
Adrián and Martin’s family remained patient and vigilant, waiting for new evidence. They shared memories and kept looking for signs that could guide investigators toward the truth, always with the belief that Martin would surface in due time.
Despite the ongoing uncertainty, the family reflected on Martin’s adventurous nature and generous spirit. He had a history of self-reliance and kindness, helping others without noticing. They continued to watch the horizon and listen for any update that could offer closure, living with the hope that the story would end with him being found safe and sound, wherever he might be.