Caravana de la Muerte en La Serena: Ministro Sergio Troncoso encabez\u00f3 exhumaci\u00f3n de cuerpo err\u00f3neamente identificado en los \u201990<\/a><\/p>\nMinister Sergio Troncoso Espinoza, responsible for Human Rights cases at the La Serena Appeals Court, oversaw a new exhumation of an unidentified body that may belong to a victim executed by the infamous \u00abDeath Caravan\u00bb during Pinochet\u2019s regime, which passed through La Serena in October 1973.<\/p>\n
This effort follows the completion of ten previous exhumations, the results of which were shared by Minister Troncoso with the victims\u2019 families, confirming that all belonged to those executed by the military convoy. However, some bodies were misidentified and incorrectly handed over in 1998 when they were exhumed from the mass grave at the La Serena cemetery, as reported previously by El Ciudadano.<\/p>\n
The Judicial Power initially stated that \u00abin the municipal cemetery of Salamanca, the body erroneously labeled in the \u201990s as V\u00edctor Escobar Astudillo was exhumed, and its remains were mistakenly identified in the recent exhumations.\u00bb<\/p>\n
Later, Minister Troncoso elaborated on the exhumation: \u00abWe went to the Municipal Cemetery of Salamanca to exhume the remains that had been buried as belonging to V\u00edctor Escobar Astudillo, a victim of the Death Caravan, which were incorrectly identified; it was established that the remains of V\u00edctor Escobar were found in the grave designated for Jorge Jord\u00e1n, another victim of the Caravan.\u00bb<\/p>\n
The magistrate added that the exhumed remains are sent to the Legal Medical Service in La Serena for an initial anthropological review, \u00abat which point samples will be taken for DNA analysis to confirm to whom they really belong among all the victims of the Caravan. It is important to remember that we have genetic profiles from 14 of the 15 families of those executed.\u00bb<\/p>\n
Family members of the political prisoners arrived at the site, hoping that these latest efforts might finally help them close a painful chapter after 52 years. <\/p>\n
\u00abWe had already experienced this situation in \u201998 when the supposed remains of our brother were found. Personally, I was tasked with recognizing the bones that were assured to be his at that time. Obviously, this new hearing surprises us because we thought we had closed this chapter and that our brother was resting dignifiedly in a place we believed he was, where we could visit and leave him flowers,\u00bb said Pedro Villalobos Astudillo, brother of V\u00edctor Escobar.<\/p>\nAlongside this process, Minister Troncoso led other efforts at the end of October concerning an excavation at the El \u00c1guila mine in the La Serena commune, a site where testimonies suggested that remains of disappeared detainees might exist; however, the probes yielded no positive results.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
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