Teenage girl from Paysandú found in Argentina: 37-year-old man detained and facing extradition
Camila Rodriguéz, aged 15, was discovered in Campana after more than two days missing. A 37-year-old Uruguayan man was detained and will face extradition.
Teenage girl missing from Paysandú located in Argentina
Camila Rodriguéz, the 15-year-old reported missing in Paysandú, was found in a residential property in Campana, a locality near Buenos Aires, according to teledoce.com. A 37-year-old Uruguayan man was detained at the address for his alleged involvement in the case and will be extradited to Uruguay to face justice.
The Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether the young woman was a victim of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, as well as determining how she crossed the border without leaving any migration records of her departure from Uruguayan territory.
The report and the operation
The report of Camila's disappearance was filed on Friday 16 May at 14:45 at Paysandú's First Police Station. The head of the departmental police, Alejandro Sánchez, explained that initial inquiries included checks on possible attendance at emergency medical services or at school.
As the risk assessment increased, the Directorate General for Combat against Organised Crime and Interpol were brought in. In the early hours of Saturday, the Amber Alert was activated with judicial authorisation, and subsequently the Sofía Alert was implemented in coordination with Argentine authorities.
The national police director, José Manuel Azambuya, highlighted cooperation with the neighbouring country's security forces. The operation involved Argentine federal forces and the police of the Entre Ríos province, with constant communication between both countries. Furthermore, an aircraft from the National Police Aviation Directorate was deployed to transport personnel specialised in missing persons cases to Paysandú.
"We managed to recover the teenage girl, we managed to detain the person who may be linked to this," Azambuya said during a press conference held at the Interior Ministry.
The detainee and his link to the family
Argentine police conducted raids in Campana, where they located and detained the man. The teenager was found in good condition at that location and remained in Argentina whilst her return to Uruguay was being coordinated.
The detainee is 37 years old, is Uruguayan, holds dual nationality, and has been living in Argentina for approximately four years. He has relatives in Paysandú and had entered Uruguay on more than one occasion during the current year.
One of the elements that guided the investigation was that Camila's family environment knew the man. Sánchez explained that this relationship emerged during the initial interviews when the report was filed.
"He had a relationship of acquaintance with one of the family members, more specifically the sister," the police chief stated.
Sánchez also confirmed that during the days when the disappearance was being investigated, the man recorded an entry and an exit from the country. There is also a vehicle under investigation for its possible connection to the events. Details of the detainee's movements between Uruguay and Argentina form part of the court file, which has been declared confidential.
Crossing the border without records
One of the main questions in the case is how the teenager reached Argentina without any corresponding migration entry or exit records.
Sánchez confirmed that both the young woman and the detained man passed through the General Artigas international bridge, which connects Paysandú with the city of Colón, in Entre Ríos province.
"What we can state is that both the person under investigation and detained today and the minor passed through the bridge," the official said.
According to information accessed by Telemundo, the man allegedly waited for the teenage girl near her home and drove her by vehicle to the border crossing. Security camera footage from the crossing forms part of the evidence that would allow the route to be reconstructed.
According to the same information, the young woman allegedly got out of the vehicle before the migration controls, walked to the bathrooms located in the esplanade, and continued on foot towards the international boundary. The car allegedly completed the migration procedures and she allegedly got back in once on the Argentine side. The authorities did not confirm these details during the press conference and avoided explaining how the crossing took place without records.
Sánchez noted that Paysandú department has approximately 120 kilometres of river access and that other possible unauthorised crossing points exist, although in this case the line of investigation led to the international bridge.
The judicial investigation
The second-shift Public Prosecutor's Office, headed by prosecutor Joaquín Suárez, is conducting the investigation and will need to determine the appropriate charges against the detainee. Sánchez confirmed that the man will be extradited to face Uruguayan justice.
The absence of migration records also raised questions about border controls and the possibility of reviewing current procedures. When asked about this, Azambuya indicated that for now it is necessary to preserve the investigation before proceeding with any evaluation of that kind.
Source: Google News UY — Crime