With the suspicion that the child was taken away, the investigation reached Jujuy and continues in a labyrinth

A labyrinth. That seems to be what the enigma that is shaking Córdoba and a good part of the country has become: the disappearance of Lian Gael Flores Soraide, the 3-year-old boy about whom nothing, nothing, has been known since last Saturday when the earth swallowed him in Ballesteros Sud.

It's been five nights now without anything of his being found, not a clue, not a concrete piece of information about where he is.

The passing of hours without any news or reliable data increases the anguish of some and the desperation of those who cannot find a way out of the case.

There are two investigations: one, which is visible and shown in the images, which is the extensive, methodical and extensive search operation with troops, dogs and drones going through fields and even a river. They have already “combed” four kilometers around Lian's house and nothing was found. Nothing of the little boy.

The other investigation is the invisible one: the one carried out by the investigators who are looking for a way out of the labyrinth. Although, as they say, no hypothesis is ruled out, as no body has been found, the hypothesis that the child was taken by someone on purpose remains firm.

Someone who knew what he was doing and still knows what he did, according to that line of hypothesis.

In this context, investigators are trying to find the guide, the north, the point that leads first to the child and then to find out who did that and why, provided that that is the correct hypothesis.

A source said: “We had to dance ugly and with the ugliest.”

It referred to the disappearance of a child in a field, with no witnesses and a member of a vulnerable and foreign community in Argentina that no longer trusts the locals after so many years and decades of harassment, accusations and discrimination of all kinds.

Investigators are convinced that the “key” to finding Lian is for someone in her circle of relationships to provide more information or essential elements that will definitively lead to the truth.

Not for nothing, the investigators, with the authorization of the Justice, brought the Bolivian consul to speak with the family. “A couple was sought so that, in addition to giving them support, they feel comfortable and can say something that serves the cause,” a source confided.

The goal is also to build trust with his wife and other people in the community.

The father of the child says and insists that the fifth of his six children was “taken away” and even spoke of “revenge.” He spoke of a white van driving around on the same Saturday before he went to bed for a nap. Other witnesses from the same area would say the same.

He did not say publicly who or why they would have taken revenge or were “envious” of him, as he suggested.

The man, his wife and some of his other children have already testified.

His two lawyers have already explained to him and insist that it is “logical” that he be “investigated by the Justice system.” “There is always an investigation from the inside out,” said one of the lawyers.

In research circles, it is understood that, beyond what the head of the family may say ("a hyper-patriarchal family," as defined by one researcher), the objective sought is for some other member of that nucleus or another close family in the community to provide a "key" or "a piece of information" that allows the direction of the investigation to be found.

Among the seized cell phones is Lian's father's phone. Messages were found on that phone, including a conversation with a supposed shaman from Jujuy to whom the man allegedly owed something. The woman used to go to Ballesteros Sud and had dealings with Lian's family as well as others. In this context, and with the firm suspicion that the child was taken, they have already located her. It was in Perico, Jujuy. There is no news of the child.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Security and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Córdoba are working and, at the same time, are responsible for differentiating themselves from what happened in Corrientes with the controversial Loan Peña case.

The province launched a large-scale search operation shortly after Lian's disappearance, involving police and firefighters, as well as gendarmes and even soldiers. There are dogs and up to 14 drones. Nothing was found.

Ties were even forged with the Nation and the Sofia alert was activated. Nothing was found either.

"The police and the entire operation arrived at the scene faster than it took to file the complaint at the police station that Saturday," was heard from high-ranking sources in the case.

From the Justice Department, two prosecutors were placed to work with a group of investigators sent from the Capital.

The head of the prosecutors, Juan Manuel Delgado, went to Ballesteros Sud on Monday to face the press to report that work was underway.

On Wednesday, the deputy prosecutor, Betina Croppi, went to the same place to give an overview of what has been done: she said that the investigation has not stopped, and explained that about twenty cell phones have been seized and will be put under analysis. She also said that vehicles have been seized, mostly vans, to be subjected to examination. She spoke about thirty searches in homes in Ballesteros, Villa María and other places. There are no arrests or charges.

She was not alone. She was flanked by the Minister of Security, Juan Pablo Quinteros; the Chief of Police, Leonardo Gutiérrez; and the Chief of Criminal Investigations, Alberto Bietti.

Before the press, Croppi described, within what can be said so as not to hinder the case, the quantitative volume of the investigation.

In terms of quality, he said that for now Lian's case will remain in the provincial courts and not in the federal courts.

For the case to be transferred to the federal prosecutor's office in Bell Ville, there would have to be evidence that it was a case of human trafficking or kidnapping for extortion. For now, there is no evidence in that regard, he said.

There were no extortion calls. If there had been, the case would have already been transferred to federal jurisdiction.

A source said: “There have been disappearances of boys and girls in small foreign communities in Córdoba and elsewhere. We know about it, but the problem is that there are no complaints…. The Justice Department and the Police are not aware of it. These disappearances are often resolved by the community itself. Last year, there was a report of a missing girl in a Bolivian community in Córdoba and it was even investigated… But there was no complaint…”

Under the table, several sources have said that, beyond just hope, the suspicion is that the child is alive and may have been taken by third parties.

If so, where is he? Who did they do it? Why? For what purpose? Was it a threat or was there something else? If he was taken, is Lian still in Córdoba or has he already been taken out of the province?

The cause remains in a labyrinth. And it is looking for a direction.