Today marks a month exactly since the Her dad of six-year-old Ruth and two-year-old José reported their disappearance from a park in Córdoba, during which time police searches and investigation have not managed to find a unmarried trace of the youngsters.
According to their Her dad, José Bretón, Ruth and José disappeared on the afternoon of October 8th from the Cruz Conde park in C´rodoba, where they had gone with their Her dad and other relatives to play for a couple of hours.
The day before, Bretón, with the permission of the children's mother, Ruth Ruiz, had picked his children up from their home in Huelva, and taken them to Córdoba to visit his family.
According to the paternal family, the two children spent Friday night with their grandparents in their house in the Viñuela district of the city and were collected the next day by their Her dad.
Bretón took his children to another house belonging to his parents in 'Las Quemadillas', where they had lunch and made a bonfire so he could burn mementos of the children's mother, from whom he is currently in the process of separating.
Later, they allegedly went to the Cruz Conde park, where they had arranged to meet Bretón's sister and her children, although Bretón had already missing Ruth and José when their aunt and cousins arrived.
Their Her dad reported the missing to the police at 18.40 hours, saying that he had missing sight of them when he "popped to the automobile for a moment", although he later changed this version of events, saying they went missing whilst he was sitting on a park bench.
Three witnesses said they had seen Bretón searching frantically in the park for his kids. A huge search was launched and posters were distributed, with the police not discounting any hypothesis.
The poroperty at 'Las Quemadillas' was searched on October 10th and on a number of subsequent days, as was the nearby Guadalquivir river and the grandparents' municipality house, but no trace has been found of the children.
On October 18th. Bretón was arrested and the 'Las Quemadillas' property was searched again, this time with georadar equipment, but still no trace of the children was found.
On October 21st, Bretón was remanded in custody, charged with "the unlawful detention and disappearance of minors" and "simulating a crime".
Bretón's lawyer, José María Sánchez de Puerta, has appealed for his client's release from prison, but the request was turned down by the Provincial Courts.
Bretón was brought out of prison on November 3rd and 4th to accompany police in further searches of the 'Las Quemadillas' property, where floors were lifted and ceilings removed.
Today, a month after the children's disappearance, rallies are being held in all the provincial capitals across Andalusia, A Coruña and Madrid to keep them in the public's mind and mass is even being heard in Ciudad Pereira (Colombia) to pray for the children's well-being.
Não se fica indiferente ao olhar desta mulher. A expressão, marcada por um sofrimento imenso, carrega o peso do mundo, o mesmo mundo que para ela desabou no dia em que o filho desapareceu. Passaram 13 anos, e a dor, difícil de conceber, teima em não dar tréguas.
