Trial of Loan Peña disappearance implicates parents after forensic odor test

Forensic odorology expert Mario Rosillo testified before the Federal Oral Court in Corrientes that trained police dogs detected the scent of the missing boy, Loan Peña, in two vehicles – a Ford Ka and a Ford Ranger – belonging to accused parents María Victoria Caillava and Carlos Guido Pérez. The dogs marked samples from the rear seat of the Ka and from the Ranger; the analysis was performed within 72 hours of the June 13 disappearance, which the expert said increases reliability, though he could not determine how the scent arrived in the cars.

The testimony complicates the case against Caillava, Pérez and six other defendants accused of kidnapping and murder after the child vanished following a family lunch in the grandmother’s house. The trial, held in Corrientes, Argentina, also includes other accused such as former police chief Walter Maciel and relatives. The forensic evidence is a central piece of the prosecution’s case.