Original subtitles

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Luisa Gómez. One. First.

We'll ask you some questions very slowly.

You always said that you were like a mother to Toñi.

-You took care of her and so. -I was seven years older.

Was she the youngest sister?

Yes, the youngest.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1992

THREE GIRLS GO MISSING IN THE SPANISH TOWN OF ALCÀSSER.

1-7 FM Series. Call the number 1260802. Good evening.

-Hello. -Hi, what's your name?

Toñi.

Toñi. Where are you from?

From Alcàsser.

From Alcàsser. Toñi, how's your Thursday going?

Fine.

Do you have any plans for tomorrow?

-The weekend is about to start. -I don't know.

-You don't know yet. -No.

But you aren't staying at home.

That's for sure.

For sure. Toñi.

-Yes? -What do you want to listen to?

Peter Schilling.

-"Major Tom." -Yes.

Who is this song dedicated to?

To Isabel, Míriam, Desi.

Yes.

To Ana, Amaia, Marisa, Melina.

SPAIN

-Yes. -Belén, Esther, Carmen, and Cristina.

Thank you for calling! Here's "Major Tom" by Peter Shilling for you.

-Okay. Goodbye. -Goodbye. Thanks.

This year has been

Spain's year.

APRIL

It's inaugurated Seville's universal exposition.

EXCITING GAMES INAUGURATION

LEWIS BEAT POWELL WITH A MARGIN OF 3 CM.

ECONOMY WORSENS RAPIDLY

CORRUPTION SINKS THE SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT

Nineteen people were murdered

with a car bomb that exploded inside the residential barracks.

BLOODY ASCENT OF TERRORISM

NOVEMBER

I got out of work around 8:30 p.m. Around that time.

LUISA GOMEZ TOÑI'S SISTER

And I came home and she wasn't here. Which was quite normal.

But by 9:00 p.m., she used to already be at home.

And at 10:00 p.m., we started to worry.

GARCÍA IBORRA FAMILY'S FORMER HOUSE

That evening, I was with my mother when the phone rang.

My sister asked my father

if he could take them to the nightclub in Picassent.

And my mother told her no because my father was sick.

He had a fever.

He couldn't get out of bed.

MARTÍN GARCÍA MÍRIAM'S BROTHER

So they should forget about going to Coolor.

And that if they missed the bus, then too bad for them.

FRIDAY, NOV 13, 9:00 P.M.

At 10:00, I went out to check if she was around.

And from that moment, everything unfurled.

Did she have a fixed time to get home?

Yes, before 10:00 p.m. we were all eating dinner.

The first thing my mother did

was to call her friends to know who she might be with.

The first one she called was Desirée's mother, Rosa.

She said Desi sometimes arrived at 10:00 or at 10:15.

She didn't think much of it.

And after that,

they called Toñi's house.

And Toñi's parents were more worried,

because Toñi used to be on time.

So my parents went to look for her.

No one knew anything.

No one had seen the girls.

SATURDAY, NOV 14 1:30 P.M.

I went to the nightclub Coolor in Picassent.

On my way back, I stopped by the Civil Guard station

to tell them that my daughter had disappeared.

The sergeant told me that it was still 11:00 p.m.

and maybe it was just some young kids' foolishness.

Until 24 hours had passed, I couldn't report her missing.

FERNANDO GARCÍA MÍRIAM'S FATHER

"Go home and tomorrow morning..."

I looked for them the whole night.

SATURDAY 8:00 A.M. 12 HOURS MISSING

The night passed and morning came. "This is more serious than it seems."

It was cold. And I thought, "She didn't wear a jacket. Where did they sleep?"

Yes. It was a hard night. Very hard.

GUARD CIVIL STATION

In the morning, I went to the station and I told them my daughter was missing.

Then it all started.

That same Saturday, in the afternoon...

SATURDAY, NOV 14 3:30 P.M.

...a lot of people were gathering

at the town hall's doors. People of different ages.

What we did was to design a search with 12 vehicles

alongside thousands of copies.

JOSÉ MANUEL ALCAYNA FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR

And they drove all around the entire Valencian community.

I am going to tell the ones from this morning: Altea, Gandia,

Buñol, Burriana, Valencia.

Cuenca and Cheste.

SATURDAY 11:00 P.M. 27 HOURS MISSING

What we had to do was to make very clear

that the girls hadn't left voluntarily.

We were trying to cause

that call to be received

as soon as possible.

No, it looks like it's full of shit.

We were a few steps ahead,

which, in some way,

forced the Civil Guard to not lose perspective

of the fact that they had to speed up their protocol.

They can't enter here. It's closed.

Nothing?

Come on, let's go.

Passport?

Wait. Don't climb up there.

That blond woman from Alcàsser was here with a guy from here, from Picassent.

They were here five, six, seven, eight days. She ran away from home too.

But that one was on her own free will.

NOVEMBER 13

13 - DISAPPEARANCE

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 9:00 A.M. 37 HOURS MISSING

LEVANTE NEWSPAPER

This is the first article we published

about the girls' disappearance.

"The strange disappearance of three girls

in Alcàsser mobilizes four regions."

This is paper. There's an elaboration process. This came out on Sunday...

TERESA DOMÍNGUEZ - YOLANDA LAGUNA JOURNALISTS

...because the father visited us and the other media

the day before, Saturday, after reporting it to the Civil Guard.

And he came with the pictures because

the parents were very worried from the first minute.

The runaway story didn't add up,

so they had looked into how they were dressed, recent photos...

It should be noted that Desirée had prepared

her sports bag

to go skating on Saturday morning.

Míriam had a money box with around 20,000 pesetas.

ART IS BALLET

And also,

Toñi had dedicated a song to a friend

that she was meeting the next day.

Toñi, what do you want to listen to?

Peter Schilling.

"Major Tom"?

Who is this song dedicated to?

To Desi, Míriam, Ana.

All that and especially,

the call Míriam made to her house makes me think

that this wasn't a voluntary departure and a third party could be involved.

13 - DISAPPEARANCE

That same Sunday morning, we went to Canal 9.

SUNDAY, NOV 15 9:00 A.M. 37 HOURS MISSING

I remember an unpleasant moment with the staff on duty.

They said that the girls would show up on Monday.

So my reaction was a bit harsh.

I was certain that this wasn't a runaway situation

and that, if she was right,

I would be very thankful, but if I was right,

Canal 9 wouldn't be allowed into the town hall.

NEWS

The town of Alcàsser is very worried about this issue.

SUNDAY, NOV 15 3:00 P.M.

It is a very atypical situation in people's daily lives.

The town council, together with the Civil Guard...

That same night, there were interviews

on some nationwide networks.

SUNDAY, NOV 15 9:00 P.M.

The Civil Guard and the neighbors from the Valencian town of Alcàsser

continue the search today for three local young girls

who disappeared last Friday evening when they left

their houses to go to a party.

Desirée Hernández and Míriam García, both 14 years old,

and Antonia Gómez, 15 years old,

were last seen around a gas station

in the town of Picassent.

I don't want anything else.

I just want to see her. If they ran away because of some kids' prank...

ROSA FOLCH DESIRÉE'S MOTHER

...they should come back home. Come back.

Yes, it's very hard. I'm desperate.

LUISA RODRÍGUEZ ANTONIA'S MOTHER

My husband too. We're all desperate.

MÍRIAM'S MOTHER

This is exasperating. This is a nightmare.

This is a nightmare.

It's unknown if the girls hitchhiked and something serious happened

or if they disappeared voluntarily.

More than 5000 prints with the pictures and necessary information

to identify Antonia, Desirée and Míriam

have been distributed in Alcàsser and nearby towns.

-Ana, how are you? -Hi.

CALLING: ANA SANMARTÍN INVESTIGATOR

Right now I'm in front of the house where Míriam lived.

A little far away from downtown.

ANSWERING: ELÍAS LEÓN DIRECTOR

Okay. Are you already with Alcayna?

No. I am meeting Alcayna by Toñi's house.

We're going to walk the same route that

they supposedly did that evening

through town.

Okay, then...

I'll call you once we get to the traffic light.

Where they hitchhiked.

And Francisco José Hervás and his girlfriend picked them up.

I'll call you from there and we will do the part

of the route in the car to Picassent.

Okay.

The knife-grinder is here.

Twenty-five years ago, the block ended here.

Toñi's house is...

It's exactly here. Here is where she lived.

That way...

At the end, in the last building,

-is where Míriam lived. -Míriam.

The logical thing would be for Míriam to come pick up Toñi.

MÍRIAM'S HOUSE TOÑI'S HOUSE

And then, Desirée, who didn't live very far from here.

TOÑI'S HOUSE - MÍRIAM'S HOUSE

DESIRÉE'S HOUSE

Look, Ana, this is...

-Mestre Chanzà Street. -Mestre Chanzà. Desirée lived here.

That's right. This is where, supposedly,

once Míriam had picked up Toñi,

they walked...

to Desirée's house. And from here...

They go to the arcade.

DESIRÉE'S HOUSE - TOÑI'S HOUSE MÍRIAM'S HOUSE

ZASS ARCADE

This house,

at that time, was Zass Arcade.

It was an iconic place.

-And very important because all the kids -Yes.

got together here.

Leandro told me he saw them here.

Did you know the girls?

Yes. One of their friends was a friend of mine

and I started to know them little by little.

They're very easygoing girls and I don't think they ran away on their own.

Leandro Martínez.

LEANDRO MARTÍNEZ MÍRIAM'S FRIEND

-And this is Esther's house. -I think it was on the third floor.

ESTHER'S HOUSE

That day, Toñi, Míriam and Desirée came to see Esther

because she was sick, and they were with her in her home.

They were happy. It was Friday.

They were here discussing

if they were going to hitchhike or go on foot.

I told them I'd personally hitchhike

rather than walk because it's quite scary out there.

And my mom told them, "Don't hitchhike or something will happen to you one day."

But they didn't listen. They said, "No. We're leaving."

I think they got out of my house at 8:20 p.m.

ESTHER DÍEZ FRIEND

They just left.

From there, they made the call to Míriam's father.

Matilde answers.

The mother said the father couldn't drive them because he was sick.

So they came out here.

And supposedly, they leave and walk this street.

The only way to get out of here is through this avenue.

Straight.

At the end, to the right,

is the traffic light where they hitchhiked.

A couple picked them up.

TRAFFIC LIGHT

Elías is parked now in the spot where

-they were picked up. -Yes.

This is the traffic light.

The traffic light?

Hervás and his girlfriend picked them up here.

THE DRIVER THAT TOOK THEM TO PICASSENT SAYS THEY WEREN'T RUNNING AWAY

"THEY ASKED ME TO DRIVE THEM"

Through this straight road with the stop sign.

So they went straight through this road.

This connects to Picassent's entrance.

It would be now as it was 25 years ago if it wasn't for the bypass.

TRAFFIC LIGHT

We'll go around this traffic circle.

Picassent, straight.

And here comes the bridge.

Is it the entrance to Picassent?

-Yes, it is. -Okay.

Picassent's bridge.

BRIDGE

-And here's the gas station. -The gas station is there.

Let me see if I can pull over here.

I can't see the guy.

Okay. Then...

Okay, so more or less they came this way,

and Hervás left them around here, right?

Yes. He stops the car there and left them there. Then he drives

-to the left. -And they start walking up

the street and then, it's when

Cano Llacer comes from the other direction.

When I bumped into them, they had already

left the gas station behind. The one that's at the town's entrance.

JOSÉ A. CANO VICTIMS' FRIEND

And they were walking towards the town's center.

Anyway, when they saw me,

they stopped to greet me,

and they continued walking.

He remembers this moment perfectly

because he's known the three missing girls for many years.

He was a friend of them and used to hang out with them in the park,

the Alcàsser arcade and the nightclub Coolor.

GAS STATION BRIDGE

This is the path they took on foot.

They walked all the way here.

At some point of this journey in Picassent, their trace gets lost.

Here's the level crossing.

LEVEL CROSSING

And to the right, we have the vacant lot

where Coolor was.

NIGHTCLUB COOLOR

All that lot...

Those are the ruins or the remains of Coolor.

All we know is that they were coming here.

But they never arrived.

I'm Patricia Murray.

But in Spain, I'm called Patricia "Murray".

I've been living 56 years in Valencia.

And I'm a journalist.

I went to Alcàsser voluntarily, because I have two daughters.

They were older,

but I put myself in their shoes.

I offered myself to act...

PATRICIA MURRAY JOURNALIST

...as a liaison with newspapers. I told them:

"This has to be in every newspaper every day. Being harped on constantly."

Those words were like...

a bell tower tolling inside my head.

To look for my daughter

and for the people to help me, I had to create news.

I created them.

How? I called local radios,

television and a lot of places.

And everyone wanted me to say something.

He was a very creative guy.

He was able to run all kinds of merchandising.

And he pushed the case a lot at the beginning.

And that's...

That's indisputable and it's very laudable.

I think the Civil Guard would've worked the same,

but public interest would've faded.

He did an assessment every time he talked to a journalist,

because he was looking for some feedback

about what he had to do to be heard.

Send, send, send. Keeping sending. Keep sending.

Every day. To one place, to the other. Keep sending.

To keep it in the spotlight.

CIVIL GUARD CHECKS 100 CALLS RELATED TO THE MISSING GIRLS

WILL THEY BE BACK HOME FOR CHRISTMAS?

"EVERY MORNING, I PROMISE MYSELF I WILL FIND THEM"

MÍRIAM, COME BACK HOME

They were starting to distribute

some posters with the faces of the three girls.

I made a suggestion.

To change the pictures for

other more beautiful pictures.

They were black and white.

I will show them to you, and you tell me.

Were these the initial ones? I mean these ones.

These, yes.

They were the first pictures. And then,

I suggested that they change them.

-Yes. -They looked younger

and more innocent,

and not like mischievous girls that could've run away.

THE ALCÀSSER FAMILIES ASK MARADONA TO SEND AN SOS

GYPSY PATRIARCH EL CHELE ASKS HIS PEOPLE TO LOOK FOR THE ALCÀSSER GIRLS

THE POLICE INVESTIGATE IF THE ALCÀSSER GIRLS TRAVELED IN A GRANADA CF BUS

THE ALCÀSSER FAMILIES WILL ASK CORCUERA FOR MORE COLLABORATION

I address you with a broken heart

to ask you to help us to find Desirée, Míriam and Toñi.

WEEKLY REPORT

Esther is 14 years old and lives in Alcàsser,

a Valencian town.

SATURDAY, NOV 21 08 DAYS MISSING

Friday, November 13th.

Her three friends came by to ask her to go to a party.

Esther had a fever and decided not to go with them.

They asked me, "How do we go? Hitchhiking? Or do we walk there?"

They said, "We aren't walking there. We will hitchhike." Then, they left.

And I guess they hitchhiked.

That's what we usually do when we miss the bus.

Hitchhiking or in the bus, of course. They...

There was a bus back then.

SARA TOÑI'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND

And when they missed the bus...

But it was one of the first times they went to the nightclub.

I hadn't been there yet.

But they... had.

Esther was friends with the three, but she was closer to Desi and Míriam

because they went to the same class

and Esther used to skate with Desi.

I admit this was traumatic for me.

But it must have been worse for her, because... I mean...

They went to her house to look for her.

They told her to come.

She had a fever so she didn't go.

So there was a chance that she could've gone too.

She must have been racking her brains...

I had it bad, but she...

Here we are Toñi and I.

She looks like Luisa.

Yes, she looks a lot like her sister. Yes, yes.

What date is it?

I think it was 91.

That's just in front of the Zass Arcade.

This is Míriam, Toñi and I.

That fateful Friday the 13th,

around 5:00 p.m.,

I received a phone call from Toñi.

My mother answered.

"Is Sara home?"

"Yes, but she's resting."

"I just wanted to know if she wanted to hang out a little while."

And my mother told her:

"Okay, I will tell her when she wakes up from her nap."

And of course,

that call...

At times later, I kept thinking:

"What if I had gone...

with them?"

THE TV COVERAGE OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ALCÀSSER GIRLS

LED TO AN UNPRECEDENTED BATTLE IN SPANISH TV HISTORY.

ITS PROTAGONISTS WERE THE TWO STAR HOSTS OF THAT TIME.

PACO LOBATÓN FROM QUIÉN SABE DÓNDE

We are following the search.

AND NIEVES HERRERO FROM DE TÚ A TÚ

-Did they say what they wanted to do? -They came to see me because...

Míriam, Desirée and Toñi.

We'll keep talking about them.

QUIÉN SABE DÓNDE - DEC 2, 1992 DE TÚ A TÚ - NOV 26, 1992

JAN 13, 1993 DEC 3, 1992

JAN 20, 1993 DEC 10, 1992

Either they ran away or...

Hello, good evening.

Good evening.

Excuse me, who am I speaking with?

My name is Juan Coello.

Go ahead.

On Monday morning, I went to eat breakfast at a bar where I've been going

for 20 years.

And I saw three girls.

-They came into the bar. -Was it them?

Look, there are 999 chances in 1000 that it was the three of them.

I looked at the newspaper ABC and my heart skipped a beat.

I said, "Damn. These are the girls I just saw."

-May I ask you a question, please? -Yes, as many as you want.

Did you hear them speak?

Absolutely.

-Did they speak in Valencian? -No.

-No, sir. I've talked with the town hall. -So you've already reported it

to the police, so let's do something.

Let's follow this lead. It may be a good one.

But let's keep trying. Fernando, talk to the three of them.

Please. Say something.

If someone said "fire" now, we would all start running.

That's what I am doing, saying "fire" in Spain.

Because I am looking for you,

not to scold you, but to hug you all.

I am only asking for you to understand

that home isn't such a bad place.

I simply wanted people to know

I was looking for my daughter.

And I got it done.

Because everyone was helping.

That's what kept me... alive.

And it was a little bit...

less agonizing.

Life. Because at least...

I was the life vest my daughter had.

And I didn't know where to put it.

But I was there.

NOVEMBER 13 DISAPPEARANCE

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 08 DAYS MISSING

A PICASSENT NEIGHBOR SHOWS UP AT THE CIVIL GUARD STATION AND CLAIMS

THAT SHE SAW THE THREE GIRLS THAT NIGHT FROM HER WINDOW

ANSWERING: RAMÓN CAMPOS PRODUCER

-Hello, Ramón. How are you? -How are you?

Fine. I am in Picassent.

CALLING: ELÍAS LEÓN DIRECTOR

Exactly at the intersection of Carrer de Jaume

and Padre Guaita.

PADRE GUAITA STREET

It's the house of Dolores Badal, the witness.

This woman said that on the 13th, around 8:15 p.m.,

she looked out the window

and noticed that in the corner of the street

there were three young girls.

Yes. Exactly. I sent you the picture before

from the shot they took from her house.

The car was like this.

You'll watch the video later,

but if the car was exactly as it was drawn in the sketch,

the reconstruction the Civil Guard did, then it was on the other side.

When they got into the car,

the doors were, according to the sketch,

around here, more or less.

It's perfectly visible.

4. - WINDOW - DOLORES BADAL

In the mentioned corner,

there was a trash container. One of the girls walked to the street.

So she walked to the street,

and I'm looking right now

towards Alcàsser, waving at the vehicles for one of them to stop.

Two vehicles drove by them without stopping,

but a third vehicle stopped.

This woman says the car that stopped was white.

2. - WHITE CAR

And she saw four people in the car,

but she couldn't specify their age or other features.

It's curious that she managed to see four people.

Seeing it from here,

it's difficult to distinguish four people in a car if they didn't get out.

She says they didn't get out.

She says that the three girls

got into the rear cabin, and neither of the occupants

had to get out to make any movements to prevent access to the car

to the three girls.

The UCO checked this twice.

Whether or not this was right,

the clue of the white car was a definitive clue.

Basically, they consider it an inflection point in the search.

It doesn't matter if it was real or not.

Because it was handled in the investigation as if it was.

The declarations of this woman,

the last one to see the girls alive while they hitchhiked,

also points to more involved individuals.

They were four boys.

EYEWITNESS

They opened the door.

The girls got into the backseat of the car.

Dolores saw the girls. She could see them perfectly from that angle.

We performed tests from her residence,

and you could see perfectly how they get into and out of the car.

What's important about this woman

is that she claims that she witnessed these three girls getting into a vehicle.

She's sure about that, but she doesn't know what vehicle it is.

But the fact that what she saw

is completely plausible that it's true, because I checked it.

I was in her house talking to her.

We know there was the driver, the passenger,

and at least the three girls.

NOVEMBER 13 DISAPPEARANCE

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 12 DAYS MISSING

It's been almost two weeks,

we still don't have reliable information about their whereabouts.

I'm going to introduce you immediately because we have gathered

a big group of people.

Of course, in the first row are the parents of Desirée,

Míriam and Toñi.

There are town council, Civil Guard and regional government representatives.

What's the deployment right now, captain?

The deployment is nationwide.

In Valencia, specifically in the Alcàsser and Picassent areas,

we've been searching every cottage area repeatedly.

We've asked for special forces collaboration.

And nationwide,

we've verified all the leads that have come out.

But at the moment, we haven't found them yet.

We were looking for the girls.

And we were trying to find out what had happened to them.

PACO LOBATÓN HOST OF "QUIÉN SABE DÓNDE"

People clamored for them to be able to come back home.

That was the big dream.

Are you feeling overwhelmed from this case's high public profile?

No, I feel pleased

for the response this has had.

And what I hope to achieve

is that our voice will be heard and that this won't fade,

that the flame will be kept alive.

Because I think this is the only way.

It's true that he took a lot of initiative from the beginning.

He went around a lot, he traveled and he received calls.

FERNANDO GARCÍA MÍRIAM'S FATHER

Something that the other family members didn't do.

He went out to look for the information.

Where are your friends? Where do you think they might be?

I don't know.

Have you thought that you could be with them right now if you weren't sick?

I thought about it, and I am sure I would've been because...

I was always...

I was always up for anything, to go anywhere.

Especially, hitchhiking.

Have you ever thought about going on an adventure?

No.

To go out of Valencia, travel through Spain and visit other places?

Wasn't that part of your plans? Be honest.

No, I never...

They were happy at home. They never thought about leaving or...

Would they have told you?

If they had planned it?

I think they would've told me. Yes.

Especially Desi. We were always together.

We're good friends.

NIGHT JOURNAL

Today I still think the same.

WEDNESDAY, DEC 2 19 DAYS MISSING

And even Minister Corcuera has told me that he thinks the same.

That they're kidnapped?

Yes, they're held.

They never thought it was an adventure.

Neither the parents of the missing girls in Alcàsser

nor the Minister Corcuera who has welcomed them today in Madrid.

The parents have also declared that

they haven't received any call that could be related to a kidnapping.

Corcuera has guaranteed them that the police

won't end their search until they find them.

What I asked the minister

is that if we need to get into a house or a cottage to look for them,

we have to have the freedom to do it.

He said they couldn't do that.

Then, I will do it myself. That's it.

It doesn't make sense that you're looking for a girl,

and you arrive at a door and they tell you, "You can't enter."

"But the authority, the Civil Guard

told me they've possibly passed through here.

Are you hiding something?" "No."

"Then, let me enter."

On the first floor of the town hall, the police had set up

an office for the police from Madrid.

I detected some tension between them.

Fernando and the police.

The only problem was having to break into some houses violently.

VOICE OF JOSÉ MANUEL ALCAYNA FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR OF ALCÀSSER

That was a serious problem.

Because you can't enter anyone's home.

I was told there was a house where they were possibly being held.

And they said we couldn't go there.

And someone told me.

Someone told me:

"Unless they receive an anonymous tip."

ALCÀSSER CASE

Besides, it was a judge from there.

From Alcàsser.

If I write an anonymous tip, I might as well make it believable.

THE ALCÀSSER GIRLS ARE HELD AGAINST THEIR WILL

AT TANCAT DE L'ALTER IN PICASSENT.

And we broke into the house.

And it turned out to be a house

where the owner's children

were spending the weekend with some friends.

They broke in at 5:00 a.m.,

thinking the girls were there.

The homeowners didn't file any complaint

because they understood the circumstances.

The police were very upset.

I'll never forget about Tancat de l'Alter in Picassent.

I never liked that house.

Something told me they had been there.

I hadn't felt that before.

In a certain way, with tact,

we had a word with the family so they could understand...

JOSÉ MIGUEL HIDALGO UCO CAPTAIN

...that if we need to go there, we go,

but that losing time in things that may be trivial

is detrimental or harmful for the investigation.

After all the received calls,

we've gone more than 750 miles with our investigation team.

We have a call from Pamplona. Good evening.

-Hello, good evening. -Who am I speaking to?

I'm Idoia López, from Pamplona.

I talked with her for a while

and gave her directions to get to the Málaga road.

-So you're calling from Seville. -Yes, yes.

And we saw three girls going through one of the gates

where the cars are parked.

Testimonies from Navarra.

I saw three girls walking down.

And I think they were the ones from Valencia.

On Wednesday the 20th, this girl in the middle came

and she asked me for 20 bucks.

She said she was going to Badajoz.

From Granada. Who is calling?

These girls, I think I saw two of them at the door of San Juan de Dios.

I think I saw the girl in the middle.

She said she didn't want to talk, she was with her friends.

And she said they were going to Algeciras or Ceuta.

I saw this girl...

We, as a team, or I, at least, I remember it very clearly,

we didn't try to imitate policemen in these kinds of situations.

For all of us, it was something new.

And it was very delicate to know the life of three girls were at risk.

Fragile creatures as Míriam, Toñi and Desirée were.

So, what we did, and this is acknowledged by members of the Civil Guard,

was to transfer systematically all this information.

The police protocols for disappearances are very clear.

They've always been. There's room for improvement, of course.

But they can't be replaced with a TV show.

Because there isn't a person answering phones 24 hours a day.

Because maybe someone calls, they get the answering machine

and they don't call again to give the information, and so on.

Did it harm our investigation?

I don't think so. Not during those times.

That it shouldn't be done? Yes. In my opinion, those TV shows don't help.

They didn't help the investigation. And I think...

that's obvious.

Hi, Ramón. Patricia Murray just called me. The English journalist.

She was unpacking boxes from a move and she found some archival material.

Some newspaper clippings and other things

that she think could complement her interview.

She wants to meet us tomorrow in her town's library, Massalfassar.

So that's it. We'll be there tomorrow.

We're getting everything ready. Let's see what she tells us.

Okay, man. A hug. Bye.

That box...

is a box full of letters people sent to Alcàsser's town hall.

ALCÀSSER'S TOWN HALL

People sent money to help with the printing

of posters, or for the search.

This is addressed to Fernando García.

Yes, Fernando García convinced the town hall to lend him a room.

Look, Asturias.

-Madrid. -He had a group of young people

who opened the envelopes and took out the contents, which was usually money.

One of them was Desirée's sister. She was there.

How many letters are here?

-There are a thousand in that box. -A thousand?

-In the return address... Tarragona. -They're from every part of Spain, yes.

Gijón, Madrid, Asturias...

There were also three banks

that are listed...

-Here. Yes. -Here.

With their bank account numbers.

I indicate in my article that whoever

wants to help can deposit money in these accounts.

In addition, they're authorized

by the banks and the government.

NOVEMBER 13 DISAPPEARANCE

It was November 13th, a month ago, that Míriam, Desirée and Toñi disappeared.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24 41 DAYS MISSING

From that day, there hasn't been any clue about what happened to them.

This morning, in the Palace of Moncloa, the girls' parents,

accompanied by the Valencian Community's mayor,

had an interview with the Prime Minister, Felipe González,

who personally expressed his solidarity and concern to the family members.

The families Hernández, García and Gómez still think

the girls are being held against their will.

His total collaboration, because he's the prime minister

and I don't doubt that he has more power than any citizen.

Since I think someone has them...

WEDNESDAY, JAN 6 54 DAYS MISSING

...I'll just remind them that tonight is the Three Kings Eve.

So release them so that they can come back.

I bought her some rings.

MÍRIAM'S MOTHER

They're beautiful. And once she comes, I'll buy her clothes.

I only ask them to release them.

ANTONIA'S SISTER

Posters in several languages with their pictures.

MOST WANTED

They're distributed throughout Europe and Maghreb

in another attempt to end their families' suffering.

They did 20,000 posters in English, French, German, Dutch and Italian.

And 20,000 in Arabic. A million in Spanish.

In total, it was five million between posters and cards.

I met with the parents of the three girls to take pictures of them with the posters.

And you wrote it down here.

This picture is... I don't know.

No, I know which one it is. It's the one

with the three pairs of parents.

ALCÀSSER GIRLS: A SAD ENDING

I sent them to Pronto.

So this picture is yours?

-The picture is mine, yes. -Were you paid for it?

Some did.

And I explained to Fernando that the help I was providing

was disinterested.

What attitude did he have with the media?

He started to like being the center of attention.

He had never been part of that world.

He was a guest on one of Nieves Herrero's shows.

And he was always like, "Let's call Nieves" to tell her this or that.

GIVE THEM BACK!

That's not how journalism works.

A moment comes when, even if it's a sad thing, the public gets tired.

You know? There isn't any news.

You need to have new things on TV.

Patricia Murray said she was going to help us

to look for them in England, because they could've been taken there.

To England. Why not?

"What do you think if we talk with the media in London?"

I suggested that idea.

"I think it's great."

What was I going to think? Great. So there we went.

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 1993 73 DAYS MISSING

We went to Scotland Yard and we stayed there for a long time.

LONDON

They wanted a description of the clothes the girls wore.

They asked them:

"What brand of bra and underwear? What brand?

T-shirts, blouses. What brand?" They wanted a very detailed description.

Earrings too.

And Luisa said her sister was wearing a Mickey Mouse watch.

A big watch.

I remembered that.

We went to the MBC, the Arabian TV.

They said they weren't interested. It wasn't their thing.

And on the way to the hotel, I tried to figure out a solution

to open that door that they said was closed.

POLICE SUCCESS IN MELODIE'S RESCUE

Everyone loves you, darling. Everyone loves you.

And I remembered a time that I saw Raymond Nakachian, Melodie's father.

He had been through the same experience I was in.

And he told me, "If you ever need anything from me,

call me."

He asked me, "What can I do for you?" And I said, "Raymond, this happened."

He said, "Wait a minute. I'll call you back."

A minute later, he called me

and he told me, "MBC is going to pick you up in a car. The studios are yours.

Say whatever you want."

No.

No, no, no.

We didn't get to the Arabs.

They didn't say no, and Nakachian called him when I was in Alcàsser.

JANUARY 27, 1993

Then, how did you find out in London about the discovery of the bodies?

It was first in Levante. A journalist from Levante, a girl,

called me and she wanted to talk first to Fernando.

I told her he wasn't with me, because he was in the bar.

She told me, "They found an arm

sticking out of the ground wearing a Disney watch."

And I said, "This is it. That's Toñi."

Around 7:30 or 8:00 p.m.,

I got a telegram from Agencia EFE.

Very short, titled, "Three bodies found in Tous." In La Romana, Tous.

It took me some seconds to become aware... No, I immediately became aware.

To process what was going to happen next.

I was with Captain Francisco Bueno at that time,

and we heard some corpses had been found in an area...

LLOMBAI (GC HEADQUARTERS)

...called La Romana and at first, they thought it was the discovery

of the corpse of someone older,

and that it didn't have any connection to the disappearance.

Throughout that morning, we took an interest to find out

if there was any information that could make us think it was the girls.

JANUARY 27, 6:50 P.M. SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN

We have to start this news bulletin with the discovery...

of the corpses of three youngsters close to the Tous Dam.

A general shudder has shaken the public,

who was sensitized by the enigma that surrounded

the disappearance of Míriam García, Antonia Gómez and Desirée Hernández.

It seems certain it's them,

but there has been no official confirmation yet.

How are they living this moment in one of the houses of these girls?

As we said, we feel embarrassed to call but it is our professional obligation.

Mrs. Iborra, you're Míriam García's mother.

Yes, yes, yes.

What news do you have?

PHONE CALL WITH MATILDE IBORRA

We're all very anxious.

I don't know anything at all. The newspapers started calling me,

the TV channels too, and I was getting angry because

there were too many calls. So I thought, "Something's happened."

And one of the radio stations was the one that told me the news

because here, nobody has called from the police or the Civil Guard.

Are you alone at home? Or are you sharing these hard moments with someone?

Yes, my brothers-in-law are here because my husband is in London.

Then, I went to look for Fernando.

We went upstairs. Luisa came with us.

I remember because she had put on makeup to go downstairs with Fernando.

She went to the room to take the makeup off.

And I told Luisa...

that they've found a body, but they don't know who it is.

That they were investigating.

She was hysterical. "Please, not my sister. Not my sister."

I said, "We have to come back to find out."

My recollection is very vague.

But Patricia came and...

I don't remember that time exactly.

I know I was in shock because I wasn't expecting that news.

I don't know if it was Fernando or Patricia, or both of them,

who came and told me.

I went to Fernando's room and I said, "They found Toñi's arm."

I told Fernando:

"Don't tell Luisa anything, but it's her sister."

You have to talk with Valencia.

"But who are you?" I said, "I'm Fernando."

"Are you Míriam's father?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you hear the news?" "No. What is it?"

"The girls turned up.

They turned up dead."

1992 NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

1993 JANUARY

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27 1993

75 DAYS MISSING

It's them. The government delegation in Valencia has just confirmed it.

The town of Alcàsser has gone from hope to tragedy.

At the moment, the three corpses are in the Valencia Anatomical Forensic Institute

where the autopsy will be carried out tomorrow.

1993 JANUARY

THURSDAY JANUARY 28, 1993

THE ALCÀSSER GIRLS TURN UP MURDERED

THE GIRLS WERE BURIED IN AN INACCESSIBLE CORNER OF TOUS

THE THREE ALCÀSSER GIRLS HAVE BEEN FOUND MURDERED

ALCÀSSER CLAMORS FOR JUSTICE AFTER DISCOVERY OF THE THREE MURDERED GIRLS

All that was like...

a time erased from my mind. It's something...

The pain fills everything.

And you don't notice anything.

HEATHROW AIRPORT

THURSDAY, JAN 28

19 HOURS AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF THE BODIES

It's bad. So bad.

VALENCIA AIRPORT 11:00 A.M.

The worst thing that has ever happened to me.

Justice must be precise.

We have to find the culprits

and pay them back in their own coin. So that when...

other girls are...

in this situation, they'll say, "No, because this will cost us our lives."

So they won't think about the lives they're taking,

but their own.

For that, there needs to be a scale that will regulate equally.

Justice.

And again, mankind decides what justice is, that's who we are.

I hope this won't ever happen again.

I ask God that this won't ever happen again.

On behalf of my little girl.

Tears and rage.

Alcàsser has awoken today asking for justice.

DEATH FOUND THEM FIRST

Their neighbors, classmates and dozens of TV cameras

haven't moved an inch from this town square.

In memory of Míriam, Antonia and Desirée.

THURSDAY, JAN 28 3:00 P.M.

That last night they came for her, but she was sick and couldn't go with them.

How many times did you fear this ending?

LIVE

Many times.

Every day that passed made me think this was going to happen.

It would be absurd to ask you how you are feeling.

Very badly.

What would you like to say?

Find those who did it and ensure justice is done.

That's the general feeling in Alcàsser today.

We'll be back with you at 8:30 p.m.

on the news with Manuel Campo Vidal.

Don't miss out on the special De Tú a Tú.

Nieves Herrero will be here on live TV.

WE WANT JUSTICE SERVED

Nieves Herrero called me in London.

She said she was going to send a car to the airport

and asked me to get Fernando and Luisa in that car, to take them home

and to not leave them alone.

She wanted me to make sure other media didn't drive them home.

Because she was hosting a program that night in Alcàsser's concert hall.

I want us to share the intense grief of these families.

We've captured that moment,

but I am sure that the other families are going through the same.

We're going to share that pain.

THURSDAY, JAN 28 4:00 P.M.

GARCÍA IBORRA FAMILY'S HOUSE

It's her. It's her. I couldn't believe it.

In that state of shock, you are aware that a camera is following you,

but you're dead inside so you let yourself be dragged.

And I think at the time, we didn't realize we were intruding so much.

I was a reporter in the newspaper of Levante

and I knew something was happening

that shouldn't happen, but I didn't know what.

And I think

my coworker didn't know either, because we all were doing our jobs.

MARIOLA CUBELLS JOURNALIST

We were seeking the information.

I came because we had to come, because they had just found

the girls and we had to come to see what was going to happen.

If we could go to the parents' houses, good, and take some pictures.

We went to cover it, to be where the news was at that moment.

Bastards! Bastards!

The stage of anxiety for the unknown and the uncertainty is over,

but the next stage is very painful, and it's a very deep pain.

By that point, everything was so spectacular...

JOSÉ GIL PSYCHOLOGIST

...that you couldn't imagine the show that would come after that.

I had to get Fernando, his wife and their older son in the car

and take them to the concert hall.

But the whole family wanted to get in. The grandmother, the cousin, a neighbor...

They all wanted to go.

They wanted to be on Nieves Herrero's show, which was a hit, you have no idea.

I know you're having a very hard time.

I know we're all united in the grief of the affected families.

Nieves Herrero had six chairs for the three parent couples.

JAN 28, 6:00 P.M.

What happened? Fernando's brothers showed up, his brother-in-law...

More chairs! And people kept putting chairs there.

And I had to make people stand up.

LIVE FROM ALCÀSSER

"Please, would you mind sitting on the floor? We need the chair."

And we kept putting chairs up to do the show.

But people were totally devoted to the show.

But if all of Spain is feeling the same way,

we had to come to your town,

we couldn't do the show from Madrid.

I think you'll agree.

The two big reality TV shows, Nieves Herrero's and Paco Lobatón's,

put together some impressive sets in Alcàsser,

an 8000-person town, overwhelmed.

The whole town became a set. We had only seen that in American films.

It was full of antennas to receive the satellite signal and do the live show.

It was totally crazy.

It was tragic, but people sometimes enjoy tragedies too.

CONCERT HALL

I remember this room packed with people and what happened here on the stage.

Those who came from other networks

wanted what was going on up there,

but they couldn't have it because it was happening up there,

because the person who had it had been quicker, smarter, whatever.

I'd like for some of the people who are here tell us

what's the feeling...

JANUARY 28 A DAY AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF THE BODIES

Paco Lobatón was there and he wanted...

Well, he would have wanted what Nieves Herrero managed to do.

But he is free of guilt, because that day, he didn't do what she did.

That evening was key.

We're live, but we'll understand if you want to talk at any moment.

Let's go on...

I never went to Alcàsser

thinking that it was a battle between networks.

I went there with a sense of duty, with an owed emotion,

and with an owed embrace to the families.

We couldn't be absent after having been present for 75 days,

week after week, on the Quién Sabe Dónde shows,

which had been very important for the process.

I want to invite you to listen to one of the absent voices tonight.

JAN 28, 9:00 P.M. SPECIAL SHOW

Toñi's. It's Toñi Gómez's voice.

The Friday right before they went missing,

her mother told us that she had called a local radio station

and that she had greeted all her friends, including, of course,

Desi and Míriam.

Toñi, what do you want to listen to?

Peter Schilling.

-"Major Tom." -Yes.

Who do you want to dedicate it to?

To Isabel, Míriam, Desi...

Our first visit was to this house,

to Toñi's house.

One minute before she disappeared, I talked to her. She washed her hair

and said, "Doesn't my hair look great?"

TONI'S MOTHER

"Yes, it looks great."

And then she said, "Bye, Mom."

TONI'S FATHER

The sergeant from Picassent called saying that they had found three bodies.

Then it turned out...

to be true that it was them.

They told us they had found

the bodies, but they hadn't been identified yet.

I won't forgive them. I wish they suffer as much as my granddaughter.

Exactly the same.

They should be killed and burned with gas or whatever.

This was a crime in cold blood. It's unacceptable.

Were you aware of the videos or of what exactly was on TV?

Or did they tell you, "We have this and have put together a report"?

That day we worked on the go and probably against the clock,

just as you can see on the show that was broadcast

if you go through that video.

Everything was precarious. Probably the editing process was too.

Maybe it was a bit rushed.

None of that is an exemption from responsibility for what was shown,

especially, the final statement

of the poor grandmother.

One can and should apologize,

but a show shouldn't

broadcast that kind of statement.

Nieves is also in Alcàsser, feeling this horrible sensation...

28 JAN 9:00 P.M. MINUTES BEFORE THE SPECIAL

...that is shared by everyone in that town and everywhere.

Everyone who has something to say about Desirée, Míriam and Toñi is here.

But, as a preview, she hadn't spoken so far.

I just want to tell you, Matilde, that we share your grief,

but I don't know if you'll ever overcome this.

I don't know. I don't know.

I think it will be very hard.

It may even take my life away.

It may take my life away,

because this is so hard.

This is the hardest thing that life can throw at you.

That your daughter dies this way, murdered.

MÍRIAM'S MOTHER

That's so sad.

Poor Matilde was so distraught

that she went to the concert hall in her slippers.

An appalling account. Nieves, Matilde, thank you.

We'll come back to Alcàsser in a few minutes.

We'll go back to that hall where the whole town is gathered.

A very special De Tú a Tú will take place there,

sharing with Spain those people's grief.

JANUARY 28

A SPECIAL EDITION OF "DE TÚ A TÚ" BEGINS

Toñi's relatives.

Luisa, Fernando never really told you the word "dead."

He didn't want to say it, but I guessed it.

I guessed it, but I couldn't believe it. I didn't want it to be true.

But I guessed it.

He did it so that I wouldn't suffer, but I could see that he was suffering.

Now that time has passed, I wonder how I could...

take part in this.

My place wasn't there, but at home with my family.

When I see it now,

I see myself being driven like a robot. Wherever they told me to go, I went there.

I thought it was my way of helping.

My small contribution.

You are young people. What do you think of these atrocities...

with girls? How old are you?

-Fourteen. -Fourteen.

They were your same age.

I...

I think those boys have no feelings.

I only want them killed.

I want them killed.

Because... an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Those boys have no feelings.

Yes.

Fernando, I think we should bring some peace.

It is very difficult to bring peace in a situation like the one I'm in.

I will only ask for justice to work.

If justice is badly executed, or badly written...

-Death penalty! -...it should be changed.

That's it!

Yes.

I think...

Honestly, I think that... Please.

-Let's keep... -Please, please.

-...what we said at the beginning. -We must be more sensible than anybody.

José Manuel Alcayna. It's very hard,

but could you tell me, now that the autopsy has been carried out,

whether the bodies had been abused?

LIVE FROM ALCÀSSER

The body of a person who has been deceased

for two and a half months is very hard to assess.

I saw the bodies...

FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR

...and didn't dare to lift the white sheet that covered them.

It's hard. The experts must figure it out not just from the visual examination,

but from the lab tests.

Just one question. You haven't answered. Were the girls abused?

Based on a visual examination, it can't be ascertained,

because the degree of decomposition was quite high.

Such an atrocity, and live,

made me understand in that moment

that I didn't belong there. I told Nieves that I was leaving

and the town council wouldn't take part

in what I thought was a real atrocity

and I have been proven right.

I'm going to take a microphone. I'll stand up

because I'd like to talk...

Everybody blamed her for the disaster of that show.

The show was considered trash TV.

It got out of control.

And...

The poor girl, well...

professionally...

The girls hadn't run away. It wasn't an adventure.

The girls had been murdered. That will come after the commercial break.

How could you do a commercial break that evening?

How come we weren't outraged? Why did they do a commercial break?

We can't go to a commercial break. In the commercial breaks, I remember

that no one moved from there.

The parents were there waiting during breaks without moving.

I will always be amazed that they could stand sitting there in those moments,

calm-- Well, actually shocked.

I think that even Nieves Herrero

wasn't aware of what we were going to witness. I definitely wasn't.

It was the first time something like that happened.

That was a wake-up call for everyone, both for journalists

and spectators.

I think the spectators also felt assaulted,

because, of course, you couldn't look away.

But that was aimed at your most primal impulses.

How can you look away?

Calm down. Calm down.

If the father was shown crying,

the ratings would go up.

Look, it isn't good, it isn't appropriate.

It isn't correct.

You can interview the experts all you want and ask all what you want,

but it isn't appropriate.

And they said, "Yeah, but..."

"An almond tree flower beside you

will never be as beautiful as you. Míriam García."

Thank you very much.

I think that at that moment the general feeling was

that this was getting out of hand.

How many times have you read these poems, these works by your sister?

It's impossible not to cry

reading those poems and remembering her.

I think that at that moment many people were aware

that the media were...

using the victims' grief.

And you realize that it isn't good.

Because if they're victims,

and they make them feel important for being victims,

that can't be good.

One minute, Olga Viza is here, so that means that there is some breaking news.

Sorry, we have been waiting to confirm this.

Two people have been arrested.

One...

One of them was arrested last night, the other one this morning.

They have been arrested in Silla, you all know the place.

They're being interrogated at the Civil Guard station right now.

This is the information we have so far. Let's hope it's useful.

Kill them!

Kill them!

That evening, Quién Sabe Dónde had a 47.6% share and De Tú a Tú, a 31.9%.

The combined sum of these two shows aired from Alcàsser

remains on the top 5 list of most watched broadcasts in the history of Spanish TV.

Subtitle translation by Carolina Daza León