Original subtitles

THE PHONE CALLS YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR ARE REAL.

FOR THE FIRST TIME,

THE ENTIRETY OF THE POLICE RECORDINGS OF THE KIDNAPPING WILL BE SHOWN.

Hi, Mom and Dad. I wish I were home with you.

Let's hope this ends soon.

You just heard Anabel's voice.

Unless all our demands are met,

we will execute her.

I repeat, she will be executed.

We faced multiple hurdles trying to find Anabel, wherever she was.

If we see any police, the deal is off. Is that clear?

The only link we had with the kidnappers was their voice.

Segura family's residence. Hello?

Every time the kidnappers called, everything was recorded.

CALL 5 CALL 10

First call, 8:00 p.m.

May I speak to the family spokesperson, please?

- Seventh call. - Segura family's residence. Hello?

Fourteenth call.

If you want to see Anabel tonight, have the money ready by 11:30 p.m. sharp.

Thirty years later, if I heard the kidnapper's voice, I'd know it's him.

ANABEL SEGURA CASE 1993-1995

That voice is burned into my mind.

- Anabel is perfectly fine. - That's what you say.

- Anabel is fine. - That's what you say.

We want the money and we'll set her free.

At 9:00 a.m., right here...

What a long agonizing ordeal for that family to endure.

I'm willing to do anything to get Anabel back, and so are my family.

It was a standoff with criminals to save someone's life.

The family dreams every day

of seeing their daughter walk through the door.

I hope that reunion takes place and this is finally over.

FREEDOM FOR ANABEL

The kidnapping of Anabel Segura shocked Spain in the 1990s.

Freedom for Anabel!

As if it was happening to us, to our own family.

A YEAR WITHOUT ANABEL ENOUGH!

Anabel's kidnapping marked a turning point

in Spain's kidnapping investigations.

One of the hardest things I've ever dealt with in my career.

We want you to tell us, through Anabel, where her mother was born.

Listen carefully. There won't be a second chance.

Someone's life was at stake here.

Anything we did, anything we said,

could have consequences.

Is Anabel alive? Is she alive?

900 DAYS WITHOUT ANABEL

EPISODE 1 WHERE IS ANABEL?

Perhaps because of my nature...

or because of my size...

I always played the bad cop.

CHIEF OF NATIONAL POLICE KIDNAPPING SQUAD

And if I put on my mean face too,

it's a double whammy.

Eleventh call, 9:45 p.m.

Hello?

We're Anabel's kidnappers. Do you have the money?

It's been a long time since 1993, when Anabel was kidnapped,

until today, now that I'm retired.

And during my whole career I specialized in kidnappings.

We're in the Intergolf apartment complex, which is a gated community

within La Moraleja,

heading to Anabel Segura's home.

It became an obsession for us to find Anabel, wherever she was.

It's the house on the right.

We're going to try to piece together what happened

on April 12th, 1993.

On April 12th, 1993, in a residential complex near Madrid,

the Intergolf community in La Moraleja,

Anabel Segura Foles went out jogging. She was 22 at the time.

That's where the horrifying story began,

one that I got to know very closely almost two years later.

We're gathered here for a TV program

aiming to be more than just a community solidarity event.

JOURNALIST

For Anabel. For her release.

That program was very successful in terms of ratings back then.

It led to solving seven of the ten cases addressed.

With your help, this program aims to end this ordeal soon.

The events took place on April 12th, 1993.

Madrid was empty.

It looked like a big deserted city during the Easter holidays break.

Anabel had returned from Granada the day before.

That Easter, the Segura family had gone on a family trip.

The couple, Sigrid and José Segura, and their two daughters.

And later, the girls stayed to ski in Sierra Nevada.

Anabel loved skiing. She was good at it.

Everything was normal until...

Anabel was very responsible and studious.

So she decided to return by herself to study for her exams.

She was close to finishing her business degree.

So she went back to Madrid a day early. Her parents stayed on the coast.

Going back early turned out to be a fatal decision.

Had she not left early, maybe none of this would've happened.

APRIL 12TH, 1993

On April 12th, 1993, Anabel went out for a run.

We interrupt the program to go live...

She said goodbye to the housekeeper, Rosita,

and asked her to leave out some apples

for a snack before studying.

...announcing general elections on June 6th.

She left around 2:30 p.m. to jog around La Moraleja,

where she lived.

La Moraleja is a luxury gated community.

She left from Intergolf and headed to Camino Ancho street,

completely unaware of what was about to happen.

It was shocking.

I was personally shocked.

We got a call from 091 dispatch

from a gardener at a school in La Moraleja.

He'd heard shouting, a girl screaming for help.

From the sidewalk, he saw two men

fleeing in a white van.

And where the van had been parked,

a Walkman, a white T-shirt, and a young woman's sweater were found.

It was the beginning of a case that stunned everyone.

Logically, the first thing that came to mind was

that it was a terrorist group.

There was another terrorist attack this morning in San Sebastián.

Terrorists set off a car bomb as two National Police vans passed by.

When Anabel disappeared... was kidnapped,

ETA was the only group kidnapping people in Spain.

A call from ETA to Egin confirmed responsibility for the kidnapping.

The government's main concern right now

is that a citizen is being deprived of their freedom by a terrorist group.

There were plenty of potential targets in La Moraleja,

because they were wealthy people.

There were singers, a few politicians, and businesspeople.

Knowing that Anabel's father is a top corporate executive,

you conclude the goal is to extort money from her father or his company

to fund their armed activities, right?

ETA would usually claim responsibility immediately back then.

This time, they didn't.

We ruled out a kidnapping by ETA or any similar group.

They were common criminals.

When Anabel Segura was kidnapped, I was part of the First Robbery Unit.

After that, the Kidnapping and Extortion special unit was created.

It's been so long, the wounds are finally healing.

DEPUTY CHIEF OF NATIONAL POLICE KIDNAPPING SQUAD

It was a case that marked everyone involved.

It was a baptism of fire for all of us.

Since the kidnappers usually contacted the family by phone,

the first step was to tap the phone lines

to record the calls and try to get a lead.

We set up a device I call a "kidnapping kit,"

which was just a tape recorder with a phone jack splitter.

Keep in mind, there were no cell phones when Anabel was taken.

The internet was in its early stages that year.

Commercial internet was barely a thing, there weren't even websites.

People communicated by landline phones.

In Anabel Segura's case, we set up the kit in the kitchen,

which was quite far from the living room, where the main phone was.

Because when you start recording,

you hit a button that makes a "click" sound.

And they might hear it on the other end.

APRIL 14TH, 1993, 8:00 P.M.

DAYS WITHOUT ANABEL: 2

Segura family's residence. Hello?

- Yes? - Yes, can I help you?

Mr. José Segura Nájera?

He can't get on the phone right now. Who's calling?

- No one. - No one?

The police on location knew right away these were the people holding Anabel.

The kidnapper asked for her father,

and when he was told he wasn't available,

he hung up.

He didn't know how to react.

We were convinced they'd call back within minutes.

APRIL 14TH, 1993, 8:07 P.M.

7 MINUTES LATER

Segura family's residence. Hello?

Mr. José Segura?

Listen, he's taken some pills

and is resting in his room. He can't talk.

It's urgent. It's about his daughter.

Well, you're talking to the right person because the family appointed me.

I'm attorney Rafael Escuredo.

Rafael Escuredo was the first president of the Andalusian Parliament

with the Socialist Party, where he was a member.

He was a close friend of José Segura.

One must cross the desert when there's misunderstanding or opportunism.

And I'm willing to cross that desert.

He put his professional career on hold.

He left his home, moved into the Segura family's house,

and settled on the couch.

He took on the daunting task of mediating with the kidnappers.

He had to stay calm.

He couldn't lose his cool.

He had to withstand whatever they threw at him on the phone,

and relay what was best for the police strategy.

I'm the family's legal representative, so you can speak with me.

They're frantic and very nervous...

Listen carefully. I won't wait for you to answer.

Their daughter has been kidnapped. She's fine for now.

She's not lacking anything. Her safety is up to you.

- I understand. - It's up to you all.

You need to gather 150 million pesetas, put it in a gym bag,

and wait for our call on the 16th at 6:00 p.m.

- Get me some paper. - Otherwise...

The 16th, right?

The 16th at 6:00 p.m.

If you fail or if we find out you involved the police,

your daughter will suffer the...

Look, we're not interested in the police. We just want to...

The kidnappers demanded 150 million pesetas,

about two million euros today.

An outrageous amount.

Back then in Spain, "millionaire" meant someone with a million pesetas.

A flat might cost two or three million pesetas.

So 150 million...

Plus the pressure of complying so quickly,

and gathering that amount of cash in 48 hours was almost impossible,

as the kidnappers demanded.

It was out of reach, even for someone financially well-off.

They had to set up a police operation

in case the kidnappers called demanding the ransom right away.

That was our big chance to catch them.

And rescue a girl who had been kidnapped.

The GEO team had to be called up immediately.

The Special Operations Unit

set up a permanent three-man team in the house.

I went to Anabel Segura's house.

GEO SUBGROUP OPERATIONS CHIEF

The most high-profile rescue the GEO had done

was freeing Julio Iglesias's father.

He had been kidnapped by ETA's political-military branch.

My father was treated

decently.

I saw him at the pool today.

He swam a few laps with me and seemed happy.

That was our reassurance,

and we transmitted that confidence to the family and investigators.

The kidnappers demanded no police involvement,

threatening that their daughter would suffer the consequences.

If you fail or if we find out you involved the police...

You think the bad guys are watching the house when they call.

We were very careful to keep everything discreet.

The priority was Anabel's life.

I was in a hidden car near the house.

That was the first perimeter.

There was a second perimeter, which I oversaw.

We set it up at a mall located on the Burgos highway,

across from La Moraleja.

It was around the clock.

We didn't even go home to sleep.

Today, it came to light that last Monday,

a young woman was kidnapped in Madrid's La Moraleja neighborhood

while she was out jogging.

For now, they are suspected to be common criminals.

Though the events occurred last Monday,

the kidnapping of 22-year-old Anabel Segura,

was only made public a few hours ago.

When this hit the press, the police department were furious.

This is where it happened,

in front of the Scandinavian School.

Media coverage of a kidnapping

is terrible for us.

A white van followed Anabel.

In a deserted area, two unmasked men...

The kidnappers could no longer say, "Don't call the police."

They obviously knew it had been made public.

Some people who work for the police,

sell information to the press for a cup of coffee.

I've seen all kinds of stuff.

They leak this news as if, "Oh well, no big deal."

They have no idea the damage they're doing

to the investigation, to the victim,

and to the family.

The Seguras have received support from neighbors,

including the singer Manolo Escobar, whose wife remembers the kidnap victim.

She had a boyfriend. She was a normal girl.

I think she hardly even went out.

She did a little exercise like everyone else.

My mom went over, as did all the neighbors, I believe.

We were like one big family in that community.

I was Anabel's neighbor.

INTERGOLF COMMUNITY RESIDENT

And my father was Manolo Escobar.

For me, he was, and still is,

one of the greatest singers our country has ever seen.

Who sings better, Daddy or you?

Both of us.

Look at that! "Both of us."

I was 14 when Anabel was kidnapped,

and I know it affected my parents deeply.

In fact, it's why they decided to move us to Benidorm.

They thought I'd be safer there.

The layout of the community was circular.

You'd go in and pass through a security checkpoint.

We were, as the name Intergolf suggests, inside a golf course.

There were tons of gardens, pools, tennis courts, basketball courts...

It was an amazing place.

In that bubble we lived in, Anabel's kidnapping and disappearance

struck fear into all of us.

Fear and dread seeped in.

I think the kidnapping of Anabel was a turning point.

Of course, we're worried.

What good is our great, sophisticated security,

when we're easy prey the moment we leave?

If you see a van, you tense up, you stay away from it.

I have a daughter the same age and you can imagine what it implies.

A 22-year-old, cultured, pleasant, simple girl.

So of course, it's traumatic.

I saw Anabel's parents for the first time when I went to her house.

What struck me the most in that house, what I always noticed,

was the silence.

I would describe Anabel Segura's house as a house of silence.

For the family, it was a huge trauma.

They were a very close-knit family.

They all got along really well.

José Segura struck me as an incredibly intelligent,

strong man.

But from the very beginning, the one who seemed shattered

was Anabel's mother.

She was a tormented soul.

APRIL 16TH, 1993, 7:33 P.M.

DAYS WITHOUT ANABEL: 4

Segura family's residence. Hello?

Good afternoon. The family spokesperson, please?

Yes, it's me.

- The lawyer? - Yes.

Okay, listen carefully.

Wait, there's one very important thing.

It's about Anabel's safety.

We want proof that she's okay.

Listen carefully, or you won't see her again.

Yes, I'm listening. Please speak up a bit.

It's a different man, though he's saying the same things as the first one.

There's no doubt he's part of the gang.

She's perfectly fine.

- Do you understand? - Yes. I hear you now.

Nothing is wrong with her.

Her safety is up to you. Listen closely.

- I'm listening. - Do you have the money?

Look, we managed to raise 63 million pesetas.

And by midday tomorrow...

I'd say we should reach 80 million by about 12:00 p.m.

You understand it's not easy

to ask for help from friends and relatives in 48 hours.

We said 150 million.

Yes, I know. The family is more than...

The kidnapper was taken aback and hung up.

They probably thought bundles of cash were just lying around in La Moraleja.

The Segura family had a comfortable life,

but they weren't ultra-wealthy.

They weren't part of the elite,

so far removed from the rest of the population.

José Segura and his wife didn't have that kind of cash on hand.

Now we just had to wait for the kidnappers to call back.

In the meantime, we continued to investigate what we had.

Mr. José Segura gave us a diary Anabel kept,

which we read through and analyzed.

Naturally, the police had to begin by finding out who the victim was,

and who was around her.

A very responsible, down-to-earth girl, and a good person.

So we're all very shocked.

She got along with everyone.

We spoke with her friends,

and also investigated her family circle.

She's a very good, family-oriented girl.

She doesn't deserve this suffering.

Whether she'd had any past boyfriends was none of the police's business.

But we checked it all out.

We even looked into her father,

to see if he had any enemies associated with his business,

who might've taken revenge by kidnapping her.

KIDNAPPERS DEMAND 150 MILLION PESETAS

I'm positive that José Segura and his family had no conflicts.

There was no chance his daughter had been kidnapped

to hurt him or his family.

Anabel was a young woman, a model student, an athlete...

There was no reason for anyone to want to harm her.

We concluded that it was a random kidnapping.

Anabel was targeted,

but it could have easily been any other young woman in La Moraleja.

They wanted to kidnap someone wealthy.

And where do you find wealthy people? In La Moraleja.

It was purely for money.

A few days earlier, there'd been a similar incident,

also involving a van.

But they didn't succeed

because the girl broke free and managed to escape.

It was the first time we'd seen an express kidnapping in Spain.

That made the investigation much harder for us.

Without any connection between the victim's family

and the kidnappers,

the list of possible suspects just got bigger.

You could say we were in the dark.

Initially, the police had almost nothing to go on.

Just two men, seemingly young,

in a white van. That was it.

We kept asking the poor gardener,

the only eyewitness,

but he hadn't seen the license plate, or even if it had rear windows.

With no databases to use,

we had to go from dealership to dealership

to find out which ones had sold white vans.

White.

There were only white vans.

How many thousands of white vans? Countless.

The police turned La Moraleja upside down.

Who drives a white van?

Delivery workers, supply companies, plumbers...

Service personnel going in and out every day.

We looked at everything.

Finding someone, with the information at hand,

was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

One of the hardest cases I've encountered in my entire career.

APRIL 19TH, 1993, 4:40 P.M.

DAYS WITHOUT ANABEL: 7

Segura family's residence. Hello?

- The family spokesperson, please? - It's me.

We're Anabel's kidnappers.

Do you have the money ready?

- I'll answer that in a bit, but we need... - Excuse me?

We request that you ask Anabel

and tell us where her mother was born.

Regarding the money, we have it.

Mr. José Segura had to call on friends,

acquaintances and relatives to gather the money.

Some neighbors, including my father,

offered to lend them whatever they needed.

I know José turned it down at the time.

But I know it wasn't easy to gather 150 million pesetas.

We're talking about stacks of bills that would fill a large bag.

We have the money.

- What was that? - We have the money.

- You have it? - Yes.

But we want you to confirm through Anabel where her mother was born,

so we know she's okay.

We'll call back at 7:00 p.m.

The tension you feel

before a call like that is the worst.

APRIL 19TH, 1993, 7:00 P.M.

2 HOURS LATER

Segura family's residence. Hello?

Every time the phone rang,

everyone goes on high alert.

If they hang up, the adrenaline rush crashes.

47 MINUTES LATER

Segura family's residence. Hello?

It was a nightmare the family was going through.

They imagined themselves in their daughter's shoes,

who was suffering so much at the moment,

and despite their efforts, they were powerless to do anything.

APRIL 19TH, 1993, 9:22 P.M.

90 MINUTES LATER

Segura family's residence. Hello?

- Mr. Segura's family? - Yes.

- We're Anabel's kidnappers. - Yes.

You have the money ready, right?

I told you we do, but I asked a question about where her mother was born.

Proof of life is essential to confirm the victim's condition.

It's a question only Anabel would know the answer to.

Listen to me closely, okay?

But can you answer me? Can you answer the question?

- Excuse me? - Can you answer that question?

Anabel is perfectly fine. Listen to me.

I'm listening, we have the money,

but I asked about the city where Anabel's mother was born.

Anabel's mother was born in Germany.

No, the city.

We don't know the city, just the...

She knows it. Anabel knows the name of that city.

Listen closely.

No, ask Anabel to tell you the name of the city.

The family spokesperson demands something in return.

"Careful what you do with her."

"If we don't have the certainty that she's fine, this is over."

It's a standoff between them.

Listen to me closely, okay?

The issue is you're not in a position...

If you want to have Anabel back alive...

- Yes. - Tonight, the money.

Write down the address where you need to go. Do you hear me?

Yes, go. I'm ready.

National Highway 2, kilometer 126.

126, National Highway...

- Two. - Two.

You'll see an exit marked "Saúca." There's a bridge 30 yards from there.

Stop at the bridge.

Stop the car there. And you need to come personally.

Listen, I don't drive.

I can take a taxi, or come with my secretary,

or a colleague.

You, personally.

Any secretary or taxi driver who went with him,

you can bet would be carrying two guns.

It would be a cop.

If you're not at the spot by 11:30 p.m. tonight...

- Is Anabel alive? - Listen to me.

Yes. Is Anabel alive? Is she alive?

Exactly. If you want Anabel back tonight...

Yes.

Have the money there at 11:30 p.m. sharp.

- And within two hours... - Yes.

...she'll be home.

All right, let's go.

It was the first serious ransom exchange.

The adrenaline rush was incredible.

A person's life was on the line.

We had 80 miles to cover from La Moraleja to the drop-off point.

We had to set up a perimeter around an unknown area.

We only had two hours to get everything ready.

We tried to get there before the ransom car did.

And find where to take up position,

in case there was contact between the kidnapper

and the spokesperson, who would be there.

With the money.

You can imagine how those cars sped down that road.

Flat-out.

We covered 80 miles in less than an hour.

We were hell-bent on arresting whoever came for the ransom.

And on bringing back Anabel. That was the goal.

It was a clear, starry night. And bitterly cold.

In the middle of nowhere.

We placed cars before and after the 126-kilometer mark.

Out of sight.

We were in place before the money arrived.

I stayed at the house, at Anabel's home,

waiting for my colleagues and Rafael to return.

I remember I was very impatient that night.

Waiting for the outcome.

To see what would happen.

I can imagine how nervous Rafael would be,

and the situation he was in.

Out there in the dark,

trying to bring back his friend's kidnapped daughter.

An act worthy of the utmost respect

and admiration for the person who did it, Rafael Escuredo.

Especially for someone not used to this kind of thing.

The drive must've felt long.

The men closest to the site of the drop-off were two GEOs.

We were flat on the ground.

Perfectly camouflaged.

You wouldn't see them, even if you drove right over them.

Who were the kidnappers?

Cold enough to do what they did.

How would they act during the handoff?

Rafa Escuredo had the weight of that tense moment on his shoulders.

"What if they were crazy enough to grab the money and shoot me?"

Those hours dragged on, tense and endless.

The night began to bite.

Our teeth started to chatter.

It was 1993, no thermal shirts,

no gear like today.

Two lights switched on behind us.

It was around 1:30 a.m., give or take.

It was unusual for a car to start up in the middle of the countryside.

The tension was huge.

Whoever took the money would be the target.

The kidnappers had to weigh

the greed and ambition for the 150 million

against the fear of jail time.

If greed won, they'd come for the cash.

If fear got the better of them, they wouldn't show up.

A car drove past him, but didn't stop.

We sent one of our vehicles to track it.

No one showed up to pick up the money.

So the operation ended by morning.

That moment was frustrating for us.

I thought about her parents especially.

They were at home, not knowing what had happened,

or how their daughter was.

But they were still hoping we'd bring her back.

And we hadn't.

No one was caught, no one showed up,

and that led us to conclude that something weird was going on.

But we did learn something that night.

A car passed through there.

It led us to believe it was somehow connected.

It wasn't a normal spot for a drop-off.

You'd have to know the area.

We needed to investigate it further.

That's what I was there for, to investigate.

Every time this person got in the car, wherever he went, he was followed.

He worked as a forest ranger

in a nearby town.

We tapped his phone to record his voice

and compare it to the kidnappers'.

All without him knowing he was being investigated.

Voice analysis showed a high probability

that it was the voice of one of the kidnappers.

That car became prime suspect, and so did its driver.

Segura family's residence. Hello?

- Do you know the El Molino restaurant? - El Molino? Where's that?

Find out. Tomorrow, at 3:00 p.m.

So now we get a call from a stranger,

with a completely different voice than the kidnappers'.

And we're all thinking, "What the hell? Who are these people now?"

Subtitle translation by: Felipe Mathews