Colombian prisoner who fled Copiapó reportedly had romantic relationship with facility employee
The Atacama Public Prosecutor's Office presented letters and WhatsApp chats linking a suspended tutor with the escape of Néstor Jair Quiñones Hernández.
Romance and coordination: keys to the escape of the Colombian convict in Copiapó
The Atacama Regional Public Prosecutor's Office presented handwritten letters and WhatsApp conversations to link a suspended employee with the evasion of Néstor Jair Quiñones Hernández, a 21-year-old Colombian citizen convicted of homicide who escaped from the Provisional Internment and Closed-Regime Internment Centre (IP-IRC) in Copiapó. According to infobae.com, the evidence came to light during the formalisation hearing of eight people investigated for allegedly collaborating with the escape, held following the recapture of the young man in the Atacama region in early September 2026.
The charged employee worked as a tutor in house 5 of the IP-IRC, where Quiñones Hernández was serving a 10-year sentence. The Public Prosecutor's Office stated that the woman had been suspended since May due to an administrative investigation specifically related to the alleged romantic relationship with the inmate.
Letters and messages as evidence of the affective bond
One of two letters attributed to Quiñones Hernández was found in the employee's residence. The lawyer for the State Defence Council, Marsella Rojas, read one of the excerpts at the hearing: "I love you very much, it won't be long before we can be together as we want". Rojas also argued that in another letter the young man alluded to the possibility that both of them could be together as they had imagined.
Investigators determined that the convict already knew the employee's address before his escape. According to the evidence presented, Quiñones Hernández went directly to that location from Copiapó, where he was received with food; the following morning he had breakfast with the people living in the house.
Coordination for transport towards the north
The Public Prosecutor's Office contends that the employee actively participated in the logistics to move the fugitive from Copiapó to Antofagasta, the city where he was eventually detained. Among the actions attributed to her are the search for a vehicle, payment of tolls via bank transfer and a request to her children to assist with the transfer.
The WhatsApp conversations presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office would reflect, according to its theory of the case, coordination to accommodate Quiñones Hernández, provide him with food and manage the continuation of his route towards northern Chile.
The baptism that never existed
The exit from the IP-IRC was authorised by the Copiapó Court of Guarantee at the request of the convict's defence. The request was based on the alleged attendance of the young man at the baptism of his son. However, investigations carried out by the Anti-Corruption Unit, the Investigation Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office found no record confirming the organisation of the ceremony.
Enquiries made to Copiapó Cathedral also yielded no record of pre-baptism classes, scheduled date, information about the child to be baptised or details about possible godparents. The Public Prosecutor's Office considers that the non-existence of those records is one of the elements pointing to the judicial authorisation having been used as a pretext to facilitate the evasion.
Transfer to adult prison in Antofagasta
Quiñones Hernández was captured in a settlement in Antofagasta, where he was with his mother. The Copiapó Court of Guarantee ordered his transfer to the juvenile section of the prison in that city during a hearing held on Tuesday 15 September.
Prosecutor Luis Miranda argued that the young man's conduct within the rehabilitation system made the change of facility necessary to protect prison staff, victims, witnesses linked to the case and the community. The criminal responsibility of all the charged individuals, including the employee, must be determined by Chilean justice.
Source: Google News CL — Crime