started · updated
Loan Danilo Peña disappearance trial focuses on police role and ex‑commissar Walter Maciel
The federal oral trial for the disappearance of 5‑year‑old Loan Danilo Peña resumed on 28 July 2024 in Corrientes after a brief judicial fair break. The case centres on the events of 13 June 2024, when Loan was last seen near his grandmother’s house in the town of 9 de Julio.
Police testimony has been a focal point. Sergeant Hugo Daniel Alegre and sub‑officer Mariano Hernán Duarte both stated that former police commissar Walter Maciel gave the orders that directed the early search teams, organized the groups and ordered photographs of the school and other locations. Alegre also described how he was tasked with guarding a football‑boot “booty” found half‑buried in mud, taking photos of the scene before a forensic expert arrived.
The trial has also heard accounts of a false alarm about a supposed sighting of Loan that temporarily halted the search, an episode later linked by retired commissar Roque Nicolás Báez to a phone call allegedly made by Maciel. To date, more than 20 witnesses—including family members, local officials and the police officers—have testified, but the defence maintains that the evidence does not conclusively tie the accused, such as Monica Millapi and Daniel Ramírez, to the boy’s disappearance.
Entities
Carlos Schafer · Corrientes · Corrientes (Argentina) · Hugo Daniel Alegre · Loan · Loan Danilo Peña · Mariano Hernán Duarte · María Belén Russo Cornara · Walter Maciel
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Retired commissar Roque Nicolás Báez testified that Walter Maciel may have initiated the false alarm call about Loan’s sighting. www.diarioellibertador.com.ar
- [● 7 SOURCES] A football boot, described as ‘the booty’, was found semi‑buried in mud and was guarded by Sergeant Hugo Daniel Alegre during the early search. www.revistagente.com · www.radiobicentenario.com.ar · www.diarioellibertador.com.ar · noticiasargentinas.com · chacodiapordia.com
- [● 8 SOURCES] The trial resumed on 28 July 2024 after a short judicial fair break. www.cronica.com.ar · www.revistagente.com · www.radiobicentenario.com.ar · www.diariotag.com · www.miradorprovincial.com · +1 more
- [● 9 SOURCES] Sergeant Hugo Daniel Alegre and sub‑officer Mariano Hernán Duarte testified that ex‑commissar Walter Maciel gave orders during the early search for Loan. www.revistagente.com · www.radiobicentenario.com.ar · www.diarioellibertador.com.ar · noticiasargentinas.com · chacodiapordia.com · +2 more
- [● 15 SOURCES] Loan Danilo Peña disappeared on 13 June 2024 in the town of 9 de Julio, Corrientes. www.cronica.com.ar · www.revistagente.com · www.radiobicentenario.com.ar · www.diarioellibertador.com.ar · diarioprimeralinea.com.ar · +7 more
- [● 4 SOURCES] A false alarm claiming a sighting of Loan caused the search to be temporarily halted. www.diarioellibertador.com.ar · www.diariotag.com · chacodiapordia.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The defence maintains that the evidence does not conclusively link Monica Millapi and Daniel Ramírez to Loan’s disappearance. www.cronica.com.ar
- [● 2 SOURCES] 23 witnesses have testified so far in the trial. www.ellitoral.com.ar