Francisca Cadenas, the 'other' Manuela Chavero from Badajoz who has been missing for more than three years

• Badajoz. Bone remains are found on the farm of the detainee for the death of Manuela Chavero

Ten months and four days after the disappearance of Manuela Chavero (42 years old) in

(4,200 inhabitants) - on July 5, 2016 - another woman disappeared under similar circumstances 65 kilometers away.

It happened in another town in the province of

,

(about 4,000 inhabitants), also at night and, in turn, without leaving any type of trace.

It was about

, 59, who left her house -in the center of the town- at around 10:50 p.m. on 9 am

schoolmaster of 2017 to accompany a couple of friends and their daughter - less than two years old - to the car, parked about 50 meters from his home, where he regularly took care of the little girl every afternoon. "Now I'm coming back, do not prepare anything that now I make dinner ", he assured her

the youngest of her three children,

, when he crossed the door of his house with the couple and the girl.

He never returned to the home where he also cared for his mother,

, at that time of the night already asleep.

Her husband -

- and her other two children -

Y

- they had also arrived home a few minutes ago after witnessing the Champions League football match between Real Madrid and Juventus at the Los Remedios bar.

She had returned a little before them after finishing her workday as a waiter at another place, the La Parada bar, dressed in dark sports leggings, a short-sleeved T-shirt and sneakers (she did not take her bag or any documentation) , Francis -slim, with short hair and 1.70 cm.

high- he walked down the steep New Street where he lived -at number 9- next to

(Civil Guard), his partner

and the minor.

Next, they crossed an alley of about 10 meters in length to access Hernán Cortés street, where another fifteen meters away the couple's car (a Peugeot 308) was parked, parked next to the sidewalk on the left, a busy road and that it has only one direction of circulation.

Accompanying them to the car and returning home in a few minutes was a routine that was repeated every night. After 11:15 p.m., the family began to feel uneasy because

did not return.

The youngest son - then 21 years old - went to look for her, making that same route of just 50 meters, crossing the passage that connects both streets.

There was no longer a trace of either his mother or the couple's car, so he called her mobile phone.

.

The woman replied that

She was no longer with them and that they had seen her return home after saying goodbye, entering the alley again, which at night is sufficiently lit.

But he never made it home.

Later it was learned that, on this way back, she had come across another person, the last to see her.

Is about

., of Dominican origin, who came from having a few drinks in another nearby bar, 'La Agraria Café, located on Chamorro street.

This man testified before the Civil Guard that he greeted Francis with a "hello" and that he did not see anything unusual in his behavior.

He assures that his vehicle was also parked on Calle Hernán Cortés. Anguished, the family decided to file a complaint with the Civil Guard that same night of the disappearance, but not before calling Adelaida a second time, who insisted that her mother took the way back home and they saw her go into the alley.

During that morning, the children of the disappeared woman already began a desperate search for the town and also for the five exits through regional roads that the town has:

Y

.

Without success The next day, already with numerous residents of the town, they began to travel, not without fruit, the sinuous geography of the area, marked by the breadth of the

, plagued with slopes, wells, ditches and up to three rivers, in a succession of high and rocky areas, surrounded by very dense scrub scrub next to a thick forest.

It is the most mountainous massif in the region, next to the area of

.

Not a single sign since then after many raids, several of them with specialized teams from the Civil Guard, such as the one that began on Thursday, March 1, 2018 in 32 wells near the municipality with special cameras.

Not a solid indication in the nearly 41 months that have passed since then.

WITHOUT HOPE

"I no longer have hope that he will appear alive," confesses, desperate, his son

Jose Antonio

, which he considers key that, in his opinion, the first days after the disappearance of his mother were "wasted" so that the investigation has not found any reliable clue to discover the whereabouts of

Francis

: "At first they did not take it seriously, they did not give it importance, they believed that my mother left voluntarily, and the UCO did not participate in the investigation," he points out to warn: "The

Civil Guard

from Badajoz, no matter how much will she has, is not prepared for this type of case;

much more means would have been needed to find a clue, and they were not fully involved, "he says. For this reason, the family has always demanded that the case be piloted by specialized agents, as happened with

Manuela Chavero

.

"They have never really known where to go," he laments. It so happens that the last three people who saw Francis before the woman disappeared no longer live in Hornachos.

The marriage - after more than six years of friendship - had a "strange behavior", according to the youngest son.

"They did not participate in the raids and they were distanced little by little."

The agent of the Civil Guard -natural of Mérida, where he maintains a home- after passing through the Zafra barracks, requested the transfer to Cuenca, where he currently resides.

As confirmed by EL MUNDO from sources in the investigation, the couple stressed in their statement that they were convinced that their daughter's caretaker had voluntarily left their home, which outraged Francis's family.

They even went so far as to speculate whether he had thrown himself into a well.

Both were investigated but no evidence has been found to implicate them in the case.

Since then, "we have never had contact with them again," says José Antonio. The Dominican citizen who crossed paths with her also left town shortly after.

There is also no evidence against him.

Apparently he is related to a neighbor on the same street in

Francis

, and that he could have had a strange behavior in the days following the disappearance, according to sources of the investigation.

It was a 'hunch' from the family, who heard strange noises inside their home.

It has also been investigated.

As in the case of

Manuela Chavero

, there is an anonymous letter, sent to the

Paco Lobatón Foundation (QSDglobal)

presumably by someone from the locality, but without the content being known to the family: "We do not know what was put in that letter because the proceedings are secret and we have not been able to know if what was really put in it was important or not", warns the youngest son.

PERSONAL SITUATION

José Antonio describes these more than three years since the disappearance of his mother - a native of Villafranca de los Barros - as "a roller coaster" for his family from the emotional point of view.

His father, employed in a coal company, had two years to go before his retirement when his wife disappeared. He has had a very hard time.

His grandmother - from whom the disappearance of her daughter was hidden in the first moments, claiming that Francis was going to undergo kidney surgery in

Merida

- He died the following year, aged 90.

He ended up finding out from a neighbor.

The other two children are more introverted than José Antonio: "They swallow everything and do not show the suffering as much as I do," although he admits that he himself has been wearing out, "especially psychologically."

THE BOOK

A book has been written about this disappearance.

The youngest son thought it would be a good idea for a former high school teacher of his - the IES Los Moriscos - to tell the different emotional stages the family has gone through from the night of the disappearance until the grandmother passed away.

"He gave me a high school class, we maintained a good friendship and I asked him," recalls José Antonio, referring to the doctor in Philosophy and Hispanic Philology,

Jaime Covarsí

, who published

I will fight to find you.

Sentimental chronicle about the disappearance of

Francisca Cadenas

(Apeadero Editorial, Mérida, 2019), which includes a detailed account of the tragedy the family is going through.

"We know that in these types of cases visibility is very important so that the investigation does not decline, so that it is not forgotten in a drawer," says José Antonio, who frames the book in this strategy.

They even collected more than 23,000 signatures for the investigation to become the responsibility of the UCO.

Francis

He did not have social networks or WhatsApp, nor did he know how to drive.

Her life was her family, her children, and her only hobby was going out for a walk with her young son along a route out of town, one of the first places where she looked for her.

"It is impossible that he left of his own free will," he says.

Jose Antonio

, who believes her mother "was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He is convinced that she could have been murdered and then put in a car to make her disappear, despite the fact that the case of

Manuela Chavero

(both families have participated in joint concentrations in recent years) has been resolved days ago after more than four years without solid progress in the investigation -in the absence of the trial-, José Antonio believes that, however, his mother did not will never appear: "The case ceased to be under summary secrecy, and was temporarily archived in the absence of evidence being incorporated, but we do not really know how the investigations are going," he says, although with a deep inner regret: "It seems incredible that they cannot know what happened to a woman who disappeared in five minutes in a distance of 50 meters in a town as small as this one. "

For this reason, he begs that "if a neighbor, if someone who passed by, saw something, anything, another car, whatever, something suspicious, please inform the Civil Guard, which will keep confidentiality, but we need some oxygen, some hope. "

Hornachos

, The family of

Manuela Chavero

They also found themselves for years in these same circumstances, desperate, and at least, with an unexpected blow and by surprise, they found a resolution that will at least let them rest in peace.

65 kilometers away, in Hornachos, they are still waiting for an outcome, even if it is similar ...

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