All language subtitles for The.Alcasser.Murders.S01E01.WEBRip.x264-ION10

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