Buenos Aires, December 10 (NA) – The complaint in the case investigating the alleged kidnapping and concealment of Danilo Peña, the boy who has been missing since June 13, 2024, in the province of Corrientes, has requested that new scientific and technical expert examinations be carried out on two vehicles. According to the 31-page document sent by lawyer María Belén Russo Cornarale to the Noticias Argentinas news agency, this involves a Ford Ka belonging to former municipal official María Victoria Caillava and a Ford Ranger owned by former marine Carlos Guido Pérez. Among the main measures requested are: disassembly of parts and access to areas usually hidden; search, collection, and analysis of DNA: male genetic material has already been detected, although without the possibility of establishing compatibility, which requires expanding the studies; inspection of computer modules and sensors, evaluation of the vehicle's behavior and its systems; reconstruction of trajectories, dynamics, and possible routes, based on existing technical records. According to the investigation, both vehicles could have been used by the married couple accused of the crime. Another of the proposals made to Federal Judge Cristina Pozzer Penzo in File 92 relates to the summons for a statement of María Regina Escobar, wife of Jorge Luciano Bertón (Caillava's son). “Bertón states in court that Mrs. Escobar was the first to tell him about the minor's disappearance (through a WhatsApp status from a neighbor), and that they were together in the field harvesting zucchini on Thursday, June 13,” the lawyers state. In this sense, “he also states that his wife accompanied him to the field 'La Florida' from 08 to 12 and then in the afternoon from 16.30 to 20.30/21.00 and that even participated with him in the transport of animals, a circumstance that she could confirm or refute,” the text adds. Likewise, the legal representatives of the affected individuals requested the protection of the children involved. The professionals emphasize that the minors implicated in the case require urgent, comprehensive, and specialized psychological protection measures, “not only for the children of the accused (Bernardo Antonio Benítez), but also for all children who were present on the day of Loan's disappearance.” An interdisciplinary approach is requested through clinical, psychological, victimological, and relational evaluations carried out by specialized teams, with the aim of detecting if the minors suffered “abuse, coercion, manipulation, or trauma.” The trial The first of several preliminary hearings, destined for the presentation of defense requests, designation of the evidence presented, and of the witnesses, will take place on February 27, 2026, at 09.30. In turn, the Federal Oral Court of Corrientes ordered “to accumulate the files FCT 2157/2024/TO1 and FCT 2157/2024/TO2”, for which reason there will be 17 accused who go to oral trial. Seven of the defendants are accused of the kidnapping and concealment of the minor: Laudelina Peña (Loan's aunt), María Victoria Caillava and her husband Carlos Guido Pérez, Bernardino Antonio Benítez, Daniel Oscar “Fierrito” Ramírez and his partner Mónica del Carmen Millapi, and the commissioner Walter Adrián Maciel. While another 10 are accused of various crimes, including tampering with testimonies, hindering the investigation and defrauding the public administration.
