Disappearance of a Child in Corrientes Province
When did he disappear? The child disappeared on June 13, 2024, in the locality of 9 de Julio in Corrientes province when he went to have lunch at his grandmother Catalina's house with family and acquaintances.
What happened to Loan? After lunch at grandmother Catalina's house, a group of children, including Loan, went to the orange grove with several adults. It was at this moment, according to investigators, that his abduction and concealment took place. Over the past few months, raids, expert examinations, searches, and even the draining of lagoons have been conducted.
Is the Alert Sofia system active in this case? Yes, the Alert Sofia system is active in this case, which was activated a few hours after the child's disappearance. This is a federal emergency system that coordinates all national and provincial security forces.
Why are the two cases being combined into a single trial? The judicial authorities explained that the two cases are being merged into one trial "since the evidence and facts are closely linked," and also to "avoid dividing jurisdiction between courts."
What are the accusations against the suspects? The first seven are accused of the abduction and concealment of the child to this day. Regarding the other suspects, they are charged with illegal deprivation of liberty, defrauding the public administration, concealment, false testimony, violation of professional secrecy, supplying narcotics free of charge, resisting authority, and usurping insignia and professional titles.
Who are the judges in charge? The three judges selected to conduct the trial are Fermín Amado Ceroleni, Eduardo Ariel Belforte, and Simón Pedro Bracco. The first is the only judge from Corrientes, while Belforte is from Formosa and Bracco from Río Negro.
Why is the case in federal court? In mid-November 2025, the Corrientes Tribunal ratified federal jurisdiction after rejecting a plea from one of the defenses that requested the case be returned to provincial court because the hypothesis of human trafficking had not been proven. This is an investigation that began in the provincial justice system and was later referred to the Federal Court of Goya. Thus, the case was placed under federal jurisdiction, which carried out most of the investigation and evidence collection.
What will happen on February 27? Next Friday, February 27, a preliminary hearing will be held in the city of Corrientes where the prosecution, plaintiffs, and defense will present their arguments to decide how the oral trial against the accused will be conducted. During this session, there will be motions from the defense, designation of presented evidence, and witnesses. To date, there is no date set for the start of the oral trial.
Who are the 17 accused? They are seven accused from the main investigation and ten from a parallel investigation. The first group includes Laudelina Peña, Walter Maciel, Victoria Caillava, Carlos Pérez, Mónica Millapi, Antonio Benítez, and Daniel Ramírez. The second group consists of Federico Rossi Colombo, Nicolás Soria, Elizabeth Cutaia, Alan Cañete, Delfina Taborda, Pablo Noguera, Pablo Núñez, Valeria López, Verónica Machuca Yuni, and Leonardo Rubio.
How is the investigation progressing? Pending the preliminary hearing, the investigation has continued with searches and operations in the province to try to obtain information about the child, but all have ended with negative results. In January, the National government updated Loan's face using Artificial Intelligence and increased the reward for information about the child to 20 million pesos. The goal is to massively and immediately disseminate the image of a missing child to increase the chances of finding him.
