The horrifying truth of missing girls in Ecuador | Forensic Files

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listeners on Saturday May 5 1979 a shout rang out over the bustling Plaza urbina
Market Square in the equadorian city of ambato alarming disappearance of Ecuadorian girls
continues the day's newspaper headline was met with the dread from passing locals for several months girls between
the ages of 7 and 14 had been Vanishing from the streets of Ecuador a majority of them worked as
Market vendors having come from poor families who required them to sell Goods to help make 's
meat because of this the police mostly branded the girls as runaways some officers believed the
girls had fled to bigger cities where they could get jobs as Maids they told worried parents that
their daughters were now probably better off others suggested the girls had fled
their homes out of Shame for failing their school year despite being aware of the ever
increasing danger many parents couldn't afford to hide their daughters away all they could do was keep a closer eye on
their children and warn them not to go off with strangers it wasn't enough each week across the country two
to three girls girls continued to go missing at Plaza urina 11-year-old ensia gares held a stack of the newspapers
while shouting the horrifying headline trying to catch the interest of passes by for orenia selling newspapers was a
necessity she was about to become a big sister and had to help her family provide for the arrival of her
brother orenia continued shouting as she left Plaza orena and weaved her way through the city
streets that evening as Darkness set in utena's family began to worry ensia should have sold all of her
newspapers hours ago but she still hadn't returned home fearing the worst utena's father
ran to Plaza rinaa there was no sign of the 11-year-old anywhere 3 days later the Tuesday edition of the
newspaper was released the headline revealed that autentia g says was the latest girl to
go missing Without a Trace [Music] [Music] over the next 9 months an increasing number of young Ecuadorian girls
continued to go missing investigators could no longer ignore the issue when they finally
started looking into the string of disappearances a distinct geographical pattern
emerged the towns and cities from where the girls had vanished were concentrated
along the Andes mountain range the northernmost town sat right up against the border with Colombia while
the southernmost town was near the border with Peru to police this strongly suggested
the involvement of human traffickers they theorized that the girls were being hidden in vehicles
funneled along the Andes ranges and smuggled across the borders the only City not positioned
along the Andes was wakil which sat about 100 km west of the mountains what Disturbed the police
about this deviation was that wakil was a port city it handled over 90% of the country's shipping container
traffic police feared that the girls were being loaded into these containers and transported by
sea drug trafficking by Colombian gangs had been been an increasing problem and the theory quickly emerged that the
criminals had expanded into child trafficking National newspapers reported that the Colombians had recruited a
network of on the ground members from within Ecuador to procure young girls from the
streets they were most likely being transported to another country in South or Central America and sold into
domestic or sexual slavery International wild trafficking was a problem that had plagued South
America for decades but Ecuador had rarely seen it on such an enormous scale citizens were on
edge it was well known that members of trafficking organizations weren't limited to the obvious criminal types
anyone could be involved from business owners to factory Workers Local officials and
teachers the fact that the girls had been taken without any one noticing suggested that the abductors could
easily blend in with their communities people became increasingly suspicious of their
[Music] neighbors across the country police commenced a coordinated effort to capture anyone involved in the
trafficking ring officers were posted at airports and bus terminals to identify any suspicious activity every truck G
and car attempting to cross the border into Colombia or Peru was thoroughly searched uniformed officers were
stationed in marketplaces to provide a visible police presence while undercover officers covertly patrolled these areas
posing as Market vendors or customers Round the Clock surveillance teams watched the docks in W kill
keeping an eye on all of the containers leaving Ecuador undercover officers posed as
Dock Workers in the hopes of gaining Intel about human cargo despite these actions not a single
missing girl was located nor a single suspect detained the fact that the police were
being continuously outsmarted suggested that the trafficking ring was being run by highly skilled and highly organized
criminals by early 1980 150 girls between the ages of 7 and 14 had been reported missing along the Andes
ranges the situation was labeled a national crisis as tensions heightened the country's president demanded that the
police produce results 's police captain Pastor cordiva sat at his desk in contemplation The Disappearance of
11-year-old orenia gares from Plaza rabina 9 months earlier was wasn't the first in his
jurisdiction nearly a dozen girls had been stolen from Ambat on Captain ca's watch frustrated and unsure what else to
do Captain cordiva began reviewing the rap sheets of Colombian criminals with known links to trafficking or other
organized crime perhaps his officers would get lucky and catch sight of one of these
Colombians in Ambat with the right interrogation tactics the they could use this one gang
member to break open the entire trafficking operation the captain prayed to find one
of these men before another girl went missing on the afternoon of Thursday February 14 1980 a well-respected bakery
owner named Carlos Yak entered the Ambat police station and stood before Captain
cordiva Carlos was in obvious distress he explained that his 9-year-old daughter Ian NOA sometimes brought food
to him at the bakery's head office she usually arrived by 11:00 a.m. but on this day she didn't turn
up Carlos went home to check that everything was okay only to find that the house was
empty he and his wife searched for even over but couldn't find her anywhere Captain civer considered what
had just told him even NOA Yak was within the preferred age range of the child traffickers but she didn't fit
with the rest of their usual victim profile Ian NOA belonged to a wealthy family and didn't work as a market
vendor Captain cordiva asked whether iov's route would have taken her anywhere near Plaza
orina Carlos nodded the yak family home was right near the plaza officers immediately began
canvasing the Streets between the yaki's home and the bakery's head office asking
if anyone had seen a young girl wearing blue overalls and a red apron with white
polka dots Carlos and his wife pinned hundreds of missing person posters featuring a
smiling picture of Ian NOA to Street lamps and Shop Windows across armato offering a substantial cash reward for
information the investigation turned up nothing police couldn't even be certain where along the root iova had been
[Music] abducted 3 weeks after Ian noa's disappearance on the morning of Sunday March 9 1980 Plaza robina's Market
vendors huddled together before opening time Kina Ramon who ran the Hot Potato stall and was the president of the
sellers Association reminded the group that several young girls who worked in or near the plaza had fallen victim to
the child trafficking gang she urged everyone to be on the lookout for anything suspicious those in the crowd nodded in
agreement before dispersing towards their stalls Carina called over her 11-year-old old daughter Maria who would
be Manning a refreshment stand in the plaza that day Kina embraced Maria and implored her
to be extra careful Maria skipped over to her stall and prepared for the day ahead her friend Esther not her real
name was also working at a refreshment stand nearby and the two girls promised to look out for one
another the crowds soon poured in and by 10:00 a.m. Plaza abina was buzzing with
activity Maria looked up as a tall thin man with wavy brown hair and a toothless
smile approached her stand he was carrying a jumbled collection of trinkets including buttons
sewing kits matches chains padlocks sweets and cosmetics the man pulled out a crumpled
100 sucra Bill and offered it to Maria it was a significant amount of money and much more than any of the drinks
cost Maria eyed the man suspiciously he explained that he was a traveling street vendor who was only
passing through town he needed help finding a bus that would take him to wak Hill the man offered to pay Maria the
100 sucres if she took him to the bus stop Maria declined telling the man she couldn't leave her
stand he turned and wandered away Maria called to her friend Esther and explained the strange
encounter they decided it was best to tell Maria's mother Carina and dashed over to her
store Carina followed Maria back to the refreshment stand to see if the suspicious man was still
loitering they scanned the surrounding faces but he disappeared into the [Music]
crowd a few hours later as the day's trade began to quieten down the street vendor
reappeared this time he approached Esther's refreshment stand he repeated the story that he told
Maria earlier offering Esther the 100 sucra to be his guide he also offered to buy all of
Esther's remaining drinks so that she wouldn't lose out on any money by leaving her stall
unattended Esther was immediately mistrustful she snapped back why do you just ask little girls
why not ask an adult a man without waiting for his response Esther grabbed Maria and they hurried to
find Carina Carina immediately sprung into action she dashed over to where the girls had last seen the man but he
hadn't waited around Carina quickly Enlisted the help of other vors and they spread themselves
throughout the Plaza on the hunt for the tall toothless man carrying a collection
of trinkets Kina charged through the Labyrinth of stalls until she was certain the whole Market had been
canvased frustrated that he'd managed to escape again Kina stopped on the edge of
the plaza to catch her breath just as she was about to return to her potato stand she spotted someone
who fit the description of the man coming out of a butcher shop across the street one of his abnormally large hands
was wrapped around the tiny hand of a 9-year-old girl he was leading her away from the
plaza Kina began screaming that the man was kidnapping a child she ran over to him and grabbed
his arm the man tried to wriggle out of kalina's grasp but she held on to him with all her strength continuing to
shout for assistance within seconds nearly a dozen men pounced on the trinket vendor and
held him securely realizing he couldn't escape the man stopped struggling he offered the crowd a
toothless smile saying he was just a simp simple traveling street vendor trying to make a
living he claimed that the young girl was merely showing him the way to the bus station so he could continue his
journey to some of the men this explanation seemed entirely plausible thinking they may have reacted
unfairly they relaxed their grip but Carina didn't believe a word of it she told the crowd that the trinket
Celler was part of the traffic ring abducting and selling young girls he'd earlier tried to lure her own daughter
away with money those in front could see that the confused 9-year-old girl from The
Butcher Shop was grasping a crumpled 100 sucra Bill the crowd was torn some supported Carina While others
thought she was being hysterical as calls to let the man go be to circulate police arrived on the scene
and took him into custody when Amato's police captain Pastor cordiva entered the interrogation
room he was Furious the detaining officers had tried to extract information from the trinket
vendor with violence and he sat bruised and bloody the beatings hadn't achieved anything the man insisted he was
innocent and knew nothing about the alleged trafficking ring Captain cordiva feared that the
officers had squandered any chance to get information from the suspect instead he decided to approach
with kindness Captain cordiva brought the man a drink and a sandwich and offered him a
cigarette the two Sat smoking together in silence eventually captain cordiva assured the trinket vendor that he
wouldn't receive any more beatings and asked if the two could just talk for a while the men nodded in
agreement he said his name was Pedro Alonzo Lopez and he was a 31-year-old traveling vendor from
Colombia the captain maintained a calm exterior but internally he was excited thinking he may have finally caught one
of the Colombian gang members cordiva leaned in a little further and said tell me about
yourself Lopez relaxed and started to talk Captain cordiva desperately wanted to ask about the missing girls but he
didn't want to jump into the subject too soon instead he asked Lopez whether he had a criminal
past Lopez admitted that when he was 21 he was caught stealing a car in boretta the capital city of
Colombia he was sent to prison for 7 years one night four older men entered his cell and raped
him Lopez swore Revenge 2 weeks later he lured each of the men one by one back into his
cell he stabbed three of them to death with a makeshift knife the fourth managed to escape and raised the
alarm the authorities considered the killings to be in self-defense and Lopez wasn't harshly
punished since his release Lopez made his meager living as a traveling street vendor he told Captain cordiva that he
liked to be continuously on the move between Colombia Ecuador and Peru recognizing this as an opportunity
the captain suggested to Lopez that a man who traveled so much must have seen many
things Lopez agreed Captain cordiva pushed so you must know about the traffickers of the little
girls Lopez shook his head he said he didn't know anything about traffickers and wasn't involved
with that sort of thing at all Lopez then gave the captain a broad toothless smile and
said but I do know about the girls Lopez said the police should forget about chasing down a child
trafficking ring he said there was only one person responsible for the missing girls and that person was him
Captain civer was unconvinced over 150 girls had been reported missing over the past year and
it wasn't possible that one man had kidnapped them all furthermore if Pedro Lopez really
was responsible selling the girls would have earned him a lot of money the man sitting before him was
near penniless regardless the captain did believe Lopez knew something about what
had happened to the missing girls he asked where are the girls now Lopez laughed and spoke
triumphantly they are all dead dead and buried along the Andes he flashed another toothless grin
and continued I'll show you within the hour captain cordiva and two other officers were in a police car
following Lopez as's Directions They Drove North out of Ambat for about 16 km until they reached a
rural farming area Lopez directed the police through a number of turns down nondescript a dirt
roads until he finally signaled for the car to stop cordiva and his officers followed
Lopez on foot through scrub until they came to a gap in a fence Lopez slipped through and ran
ahead when the officers caught up Lopez was standing in front of a small wooden box it was roughly 130 cm long and 90 CM
wide and looked like it was intended to be a Mak shifted beehive a stench hung in the air as
Lopez pointed to the Box the officers used crowbars to crack open the lid inside was a dirty
mattress on top of the mattress was the naked body of a young girl Captain cordiva immediately knew
who she was tucked alongside her body was a pair of blue overalls and a red apron with
white polka dots it was 9-year-old iova yak investig tigators had assumed that Ian NOA had been abducted while walking
to deliver food to her father but according to Lopez that wasn't the case he explained that on the morning of
Thursday February 14 1980 he was passing by the yak's house when even Nova poked
her head outside the front door she looked up the street before retreating back inside Lopez stopped in his tracks
he watched the house for a few hours until he was certain that the child was Home
Alone Lopez eventually knocked on the front door but there was no answer he called out to iova saying he
was a friend of her father's Ian NOA cautiously opened the door Lopez produced 10 sucres and said
that iova his parents wanted them to go to the store to buy vegetable Ian NOA was hesitant but Lopez said that
her parents would be angry if she didn't go with him she took Lopez's hand and the pair
walked down the street Lopez spoke to wova sweetly and distracted her with conversation he guided her out of ambato
and towards the rural Countryside after several hours they were amongst farmlands
by Nightfall I NOA became tired of walking and started asking for her mother Lopez looked around and spotted
the wooden box plus a discarded mattress lying nearby he opened the box and placed the
mattress inside all of his friendliness towards Ian NOA disappeared and he ordered her
to climb inside Lopez subdued evanova by punching her twice in the head he then raped her repeatedly before
strangling her to death Lopez slept alongside her body for a while before closing the lid of the
box and walking away Captain Pastor cordiva made the heartbreaking call to iova his
parents when Carlos Yak saw his daughter's body he was unable to speak even of his mother collapsed to
the floor an autopsy on iov's body later corroborated Lopez's account of his attack Lopez had more to say he was
eager to take police to another of his young victims as they prepared to depart the
station they were met by an angry mob banging for Lopez's blood Captain cordiva tried to appease
the crowd telling them he understood their anger but this wasn't just about even
overa there were many more missing girls to be found the crowd ignored the captain's
pleas to be patient and repeatedly called for Lopez to be lynched officers were forced to smuggle
Lopez through an alternative exit and bundle him into a waiting police vehicle this time they didn't have to
travel far [Music] Pedro Lopez directed police to the outskirts of town where the ficoa bridge
connected Central Ambat with the affluent neighborhood of fooa he specified a site underneath the
bridge on the banks of the Ambat River officers began digging and it wasn't long before they found something
buried underneath it was a stack of newspapers dated May 5 19 1979 the day that 11-year-old ortensia
gares had disappeared underneath the papers was a small set of sceletal remains news that a second body had been
uncovered quickly spread and hundreds of towns folk gathered on the scene as the remains were lifted out of
the dirt Captain cordiva spotted utena's parents in the crowd and brought them forward
the body was too badly decomposed to be identified but utena's parents recognized her
clothes The Angry Crowd began throwing rocks at Lopez forcing police to remove him from the
scene on their way back to the station Lopez confessed that he'd approached ortensia gares as she was crossing the
ficoa bridge he took a copy of the newspaper and made a comment about the missing
girls headline he then asked utena to be his guide offering to pay 10 sucres as well
as by all of her remaining papers oreno agreed Lopez led orenia into the thick vegetation of the riverbank where he
proceeded to repeatedly rape her before strangling her to death he rested alongside utena's corpse
for a few hours then buried her and her newspapers in a nearby ditch Lopez then went in search of
another little girl he couldn't find one that day but he told police that he got lucky the
next over the following weeks Pedro Lopez LED captain cordiva and his officers to 110 remote and obscure
locations across Ecuador where he claimed to have buried the bodies of his V victims none of the sites were marked
yet Lopez recalled each location with Precision at some sites multiple bodies had been callously thrown on top of one
another at others no bodies could be found the remains presumably destroyed by animals weather and
time construction work had since been conducted at several locations in tuming any remains under
concrete every time a body was discovered Lopez explained how the girl came to be
there the story was more or less always the same Lopez would befriend his young victim and then lead her to a secluded
location before raping and killing her eventually Lopez told Captain cordiva no more I have proven enough
that I am the one responsible for all the girls in all the bodies of 80 Ecuadorian
girls were uncovered but by Lopez's own admissions police believed he was responsible for
over 100 murders in the country the people of Ecuador weren't suffering alone Lopez had happily admitted that
he'd done the same in Colombia and Peru across the three countries he claimed to
have taken at least 300 lives the realization dawned on Captain cordiva Pedro Lopez was one of the most
prolific serial killers ever [Music] known while in custody awaiting trial Pedro Lopez was permitted to partip
ipate in media interviews he delighted in the attention and took pleasure in detailing his story
to anyone who would listen explaining how he chose his victims he said I would walk among the markets
looking for a girl with a certain look on her face a look of innocence and Beauty I like the girls of
Ecuador they are more gentle more innocent and trusting than the girls of Colombia who are too suspicious of
strangers Lopez admitted that the girls he targeted were victims of convenience he had often followed
fair-haired children of tourists but his opportunity to strike never arose as quote their parents were too
watchful according to Lopez it all started in the mid 1970s following his release from
prison he spent a lot of time wandering through the mountains near the picturesque Tekken falls about 30 km
Southwest of Boga during one Journey he came across a young girl walking down a dirt
road she became Lopez's first child victim and the Tekken dama Falls area became a burial ground for a number of
young girls thereafter Lopez eventually made his way down to Peru where the rapes and murders
continued in 1978 Lopez was traveling through a small village in the yayak kucho region
of Southern Peru he managed to convince a 9-year-old indigenous girl to accompany him for a
walk but several villagers saw what he was doing and quickly realized that Lopez was responsible for the Spade of
missing girls in the area the community decided they would punish Lopez according to their native
Customs he was stripped in naked and hogtied honey was poured all over his body and he was thrown into a large
hole the villagers were planning to First torture Lopez with live ants and then bury him
alive just as they were about to release the ants an American woman stepped forward she was a Christian Missionary
who had been promoting her faith in the village the woman begged the villagers not to go through with their plant
she urged them to let her deliver Lopez to the Peruvian authorities Instead The Villages
agreed Lopez was hauled into the woman's Jeep and driven to the Region's police station but the Peruvian police were
apathetic to the plight of indigenous communities and they had no interest in investigating Lopez's involvement with
the missing girls without so much as questioning him they escorted Lopez across the border
and released him back into Colombia Lopez estimated that by the time he left Peru in 1978 he had
murdered over 100 girls there he claimed to have spent the next year traveling along the Andes mountain range between
Colombia and Ecuador abducting raping and strangling young girls with impunity based on the number of burial locations
that Pedro Lopez had pinpointed to Ecuadorian police he was eventually charged with the rape and murder of 110
girls in July 1981 14 months after his capture Lopez faced the judge despite his previous confessions
and for reasons unknown he pleaded guilty to only 57 of those charges Lopez labeled himself the man of
the century while the people of Ecuador called him the monster of the Andes the general consensus was that
Lopez deserved nothing short of execution but the death penalty had been abolished in Ecuador 70 years
prior the revulsion against Lopez's crimes was so great that a mass protest was staged in
ambato the families of the young victims petitioned the president to allow the death penalty in this instance
commenting our hearts are bloodied and our hands are raised to Heaven imploring Justice the president acknowledged the
pain that the families and all ecuadorians were feeling but rejected the request instead he asked them to put
their trust in the justice system assuring that Lopez would be punished to the full extent of the law
Ecuador's criminal code did not permit sentences for murder to run consecutively accordingly Pedro Lopez
would only be sentenced for one murder not the dozens he had pleaded guilty to nor the potential hundreds he was
responsible for Lopez was given the maximum penalty for murder that was in force in Ecuador
at the time 16 [Music] years just over 13 years later on Wednesday August 31 1994 Pedro Lopez was
released from prison early on account of good behavior he was 45 years old however Lopez was considered an
illegal immigrant in Ecuador as soon as he was released he was immediately taken
into custody by immigration officials the following day he was escorted across the border and delivered to the
Colombian authorities it was the moment they'd been waiting for for 14 years in late December 1979 2 months
prior to Lopez's capture in Ecuador a 9-year-old girl named FL Sanchez went missing from the Colombian town of L
espanel shortly after Flora's body was discovered she had been raped and strangled over the following weeks the
bodies of four more girls were discovered in Indian towns leading South back towards
Ecuador at the time Colombian authorities had no idea who was responsible for the
murders after Pedro Lopez was captured in Ecuador the reality became clear L espanel was Lopez's hometown
Flor Sanchez had gone missing the day after Pedro Lopez arrived for a visit there he left town a few days later
traveling his usual route South along the Andes in media interviews following his
capture Lopez boasted about committing many murders in L espanel he was amused that the police
hadn't found more bodies with Pedro Lopez back on Colombian soil authorities were finally
able to charge him with the murder of Flor Sanchez in Colombia the maximum penalty
for murder was 60 years given Lopez was 45 60 years would effectively be a life sentence this gave Comfort to the
families of Lopez's victims who felt cheated by the leniency of Ecuador's justice
system but such Comfort was shortlived as part of of the pre-trial procedures Lopez was subjected to a
psychiatric examination he was deemed mentally ill and therefore not criminally responsible
for his actions Lopez had consistently described a childhood of abuse and Trauma he
claimed that his mother was a sex worker that he never knew his own father and that all of his siblings were fathered
by different men as a child Lopez claimed that his mother was violent and abusive towards him
kicking him out of the family home when he was just 8 years old he spent the rest of his childhood
on the streets Lopez recalled he'd once been taken in by a seemingly kind man who
turned out to be a pedophile he escaped and returned to the streets a few years later when Lopez was
12 an American couple took pity on him they gave him food and clothes and enrolled him in
school there Lopez claimed he was sexually abused by one of the teachers according to Lopez the rapes
and murders he committed were in retaliation for his own childhood he told the media I lost my innocence at the age of
eight and I decided to do the same to as many young girls as possible I am not sorry for what I
did after Lopez's psychological assessment was handed down in Colombia the psychiatric Community debated his
mental state some believed that Lopez was turned into a rapist and Killer by his
childhood experiences others believed he was a born psychopath incapable of remorse or
Rehabilitation instead of a life Behind Bars he was sent to a mental health facility for ongoing
treatment just over 3 years later in February 1998 Pedro Lopez was declared CED and
sane at the age of 49 years he walked out of the facility a free man the first thing Lopez did was travel
to El espanel to see his mother berilda in the years since Lopez had been captured berilda had been interviewed
several times she rejected her son's claims of child abuse saying that although their
family was poor and life wasn't easy theirs had always been a loving home benilda claimed she made her living
as a laundress not a sex worker she clarified that Lopez's father had died 6 months before Lopez was born having been
killed in Colombia's civil violence according to benilda Lopez grew angry and resentful after she remarried
and had children with her new husband he wasn't kicked out of home but had left on his own
accord he returned at the age of 18 at which point berilda caught him inappropriately touching his youngest
sisters and kicked him out berilda said her son was a disgrace to society if she had known what he was capable of
she said she would have killed him herself to save Humanity from his crimes she expressed her deep apologies
to the families of his victims whom she lit a candle for every [Music] day benilda had no desire to see her son
again when Lopez arrived at her door after being released from the mental health facility it wasn't for a family
reunion he wanted money berilda was still very poor and had nothing to give instead Lopez took some of her
furniture and sold it for a meager amount of cash he left el espanol and Faded back
into the Andes in the years that followed other young girls between the ages of 7 and 14
went missing along the mountain range of those who were found deceased some had suffered the same fate as Pedro
Lopez's previous victims he immediately became a suspect not only did the crimes fit his
Mo there were serious doubts that he could ever be rehabilitated Lopez had been proud of
his crimes and at no point had he ever shown a hint of remorse Lopez had once told the
Ecuadorian police quote the moment of death is passionate and exciting someday when I'm free I'll
feel that moment again I will be happy to kill again it is my mission in 2002 Interpol issued a
warrant for Pedro Lopez's arrest but he couldn't be located family members of his victims
had been vocal about their desire for Revenge some had threatened to shoot Lopez others to burn him
alive the mother of one young victim had told reporters I wanted to break him into
pieces because he killed my baby Kina Ramon the market vendor who captured Lopez near Plaza Robina
supported the intention stating it would be a kindness to the world for someone to murder this fiend
many believe that someone did just that as of mid 2023 Pedro Lopez has never been found alive if he is still alive
Lopez would be in his mid 70s back in 1980 when Pedro Lopez LED Ecuadorian police to his burial sites
the remains of his victims were transported to the Ambat police headquarters parents of missing girls traveled from
across the country to view one corpse after another for many a visual identification
wasn't possible instead grief stricken mothers and fathers clutched familiar items of
clothing and wept over bones some mothers screamed and passed out while anguished fathers punched
walls Captain Pastor cordiva would never forget watching the heartbreaking procession of grieving
parents years later he described it as the most painful thing I've ever seen in my
life nearly half of the victims uncovered by police could not be identified if Lopez's confessions are to
be relied on potentially hundreds more in Colombia and Peru remain lost and buried the true number and identities of
the missing girl of the Andes will likely never be [Music] [Music] [Music] known for

Case 292: Monster of the Andes

*** Content warnings: Child abuse, child victims, sexual assault *** In the late 1970s, young girls along the Andes mountain range in Ecuador began to disappear. By 1980, the number of missing girls had reached national crisis proportions. Police feared the girls had been abducted by international child traffickers and sold into domestic and sexual slavery. That was until a vigilant market vendor spotted something out of the ordinary.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Holly Boyd Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-292-monster-of-the-andes

Brief Summary

Pedro Lopez, a serial killer, confessed to abducting and murdering over 100 girls in Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.

Key points

The Disappearance of Young Girls. In Ambato, Ecuador, girls aged 7 to 14 have been vanishing without a trace.
A Disturbing Pattern Emerges. Investigators discover a geographical pattern in the disappearances, suggesting human trafficking.
A Shocking Confession. Pedro Lopez claims he is responsible for the missing girls, shocking the police.
The Monster of the Andes. Pedro Lopez, a prolific serial killer, confessed to over 300 murders across three countries.
A Mother's Pain. Families of Lopez's victims protested for justice, demanding the death penalty.
Lopez's Release. Pedro Lopez was released from prison early due to good behavior, sparking outrage.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I do know about the girls.

Pedro Lopez claims responsibility for the missing girls.

21:07WatchJul 13, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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