Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / Madman of the Route - El Loco De La Ruta

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Madman of the Route - El Loco De La Ruta · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: The individual referred to as the Madman of the Route
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  or Eloco de la Ruta in Spanish, is the moniker
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  attributed to a suspected serial killer believed to have operated
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  in Mard de Plata, Argentina between nineteen ninety six and
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  nineteen ninety nine. It is alleged that this singular perpetrator
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  is accountable for the murders and disappearances of no fewer
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  than fourteen sex workers, with some victims later discovered to
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  have been raped and mutilated near highways, occasionally bearing inscriptions
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  on their bodies. Since the introduction of this hypothesis, various
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  suspects have been identified and charged, including a cadre of
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  corrupt law enforcement officials. However, none have faced conviction. As
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  of now, the cases surrounding these murders remain unresolved murders.
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  On November twenty ninth, nineteen ninety five, the remains of
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  thirty five year old Maria Estramaro were discovered alongside Provincial
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  Route fifty five. She had been strangled and the phrase
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  puta bitch was inscribed on her back using a sharp instrument,
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  likely a knife. On December first, nineteen ninety six, the
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  lifeless body of twenty six year old Adriana Jacqueline Fernandez,
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  an artisan and sex worker from Uruguay, was located beneath
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  a bridge on National Route two hundred twenty six. She
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  had also been strangled. Initial suspicions pointed to her former partner,
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  who had a prior conviction for murder, but there was
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  not enough evidence to bring charges against him. On January
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  twenty first, nineteen ninety seven, authorities found a torso and
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  two arms along Provincial Route eighty eight, but the remaining
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  body parts were not recovered. The dismembered remains were identified
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  as belonging to twenty six year old Viviana Guadalupe Espinosa Spindola,
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  a local sex worker who had recently vanished. Subsequently, on
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  May thirteenth, the body of another sex worker, twenty seven
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  year old Mariella Elizabeth Guimenez, was discovered along the same route.
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  Similar to Espinoza, her arms had been severed and she
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  bore cuts on her buttocks, but it was concluded that
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  she had been manually strangled. Shortly after this discovery, a
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  bouquet of flowers was found at the scene, which was
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  later revealed to have been placed there by a crime
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  scene photographer expressing his condolences. The final confirmed murder linked
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  to the perpetrator occurred on October twentieth, nineteen ninety eight,
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  when the legs of twenty five year old Maria del
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  Carmen Le Gizemon were found along Provincial Route eighty eight
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  near Barrio Las Heras. The remainder of her body was
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  never recovered. Furthermore, between July twenty first, nineteen ninety seven
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  and nineteen ninety nine, nine additional sex workers went missing,
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  Anna Maria Norres, Patricia Angelica Prieto, Silvana pau La Caraballo,
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  Claudia Jacqueline Romero, Veronica Andrea Chaves, Mirta Bordon, Sandra Villanueva,
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  Mercedes Almas and Fernando Varon. Although their bodies have never
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  been located, their disappearances are also attributed to the same
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  perpetrator investigation. In light of the recent crimes, the Ministry
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  of Justice and Security has announced a reward of thirty
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  thousand pesos for any information that could lead to the
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  apprehension of the perpetrator. This amount was subsequently raised to
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  five hundred thousand pesos. In nineteen ninety seven, the Buenos
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  Aires Police Department established a serial homicide division and sought
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  assistance from both the FBI and the French National Police.
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  Initial leads emerged from interviews with witnesses who had seen
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  the victims shortly before their disappearances. Some witnesses reported observing
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  a burgundy Ford galaxy in the vicinity during the time
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  of the crimes, and in at least two instances involving
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  victims Amao and Nores, they noted seeing the victims enter
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  the vehicle. Descriptions of the suspect indicated a man approximately
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  forty five years old, stocky bolding with some remaining blonde hair.
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  On June twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, authorities confiscated the
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  vehicle belonging to Jose Luis and Douja, the proprietor of
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  a disco situated along Provincial Route eighty eight. After a
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  third arrow examination lasting three days, traces of blood and
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  black hair were discovered on the carpet. Genetic analysis confirmed
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  the samples were of human origin, yet they were not
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  linked to the cases of death and disappearance. On the
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  day of Chavez's disappearance, the twenty five year old was
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  last seen working as a chechroom attendant. At a dance
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  club in Marda Plata. Subsequently, a diary containing the names
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  and phone numbers of her regular clients was discovered in
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  her residence. Among these clients were police officers and politicians,
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  including Prosecutor Marcelo Garcia Bero. On August ninth, Hooft issued
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  orders for the arrest of ten police officers and four
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  civilians who faced formal accusations regarding the disappearances of Norez,
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  Chavez and Caraballo. They were also scrutinized for their potential
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  involvement in other cases, yet they were never prosecuted due
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  to insufficient evidence. According to the case documentation, this gang
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  was responsible for extortion. Despite the diligent efforts of investigators,
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  a connection between the gang and the three disappearances, as
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  well as other fatalities, could not be established, leading to
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  their acquittal in two thousand four. To this day, all
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  homicides and disappearances associated with this case remain unresolved.