Loan Danilo Peña disappearance trial begins in Corrientes, Argentina

On Tuesday, June 16 2026, the oral and public trial over the 2024 disappearance of five‑year‑old Loan Danilo Peña started at the Gendarmería Nacional Escuadrón 48 in Corrientes city. The case, one of the most widely followed criminal investigations in Argentina, involves 17 defendants accused of kidnapping and concealing the child, with an estimated four‑month hearing schedule, more than 200 witnesses and over 900 pages of evidence.

The Federal Oral Court, presided by judges Fermín Ceroleni, Eduardo Belforte and Simón Bracco, will hear testimonies from the boy’s parents, relatives and the accused, including ex‑navy officer Carlos Guido Pérez and his wife María Victoria Caillava. Prosecutors Tamara Pourcel and Carlos Schaefer seek to prove a coordinated abduction, possibly linked to a human‑trafficking network. The defence is expected to raise numerous procedural challenges, including a request to expand the prosecutorial team that the court has rejected.

A heavy security perimeter surrounds the courthouse, with streets cordoned off and public transport rerouted. Community sentiment remains one of anguish and distrust, as residents recall the unresolved fate of Loan, who vanished during a family lunch in the rural hamlet of 9 de Julio.

The trial aims to determine responsibility for the child’s disappearance, though his whereabouts remain unknown.