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Félix Esquerdo Found 100 Meters from Where His Motorcycle Was Left
The body of Félix José Esquerdo, missing since 2020 in El Campello, was found about 100 meters from his motorcycle. Volunteers located him on the first day of their search.
Félix Esquerdo's Body Found 100 Meters from His Motorcycle
The body of Félix José Esquerdo Martínez was found about a hundred meters from where his motorcycle was left, in a mountainous area of El Campello (Alicante), four years after his disappearance. It was found by a search organized by his mother, Isabel Martínez, along with volunteers and the missing persons association Adonay. And they found him on the first day. In a few hours. Four years of nothing for a morning's discovery.
The case began in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. Félix was 34 years old and worked as a pharmacist in Benidorm. Those who knew him described him as a shy and home-loving man. His motorcycle was found in the Pueblo Acantilado area, in El Campello. Along with the remains, volunteers located his clothes, helmet, and belongings, inside a sleeping bag among some bushes. "Along with the remains, we found all his belongings", summarized the president of Adonay, Jorge Granada, to dispel any doubts about the identity.
The detail that puzzles everyone is not the ending, but the distance.
Why Did It Take Four Years to Find the Body?
Because, according to what has been reported about the case, there was hardly any search. When Félix disappeared, an official search was launched that found nothing, and the file ended up archived due to a lack of clues. The mother then hired a private investigation agency that, according to accounts related to the case, allegedly faked sightings of the missing person in other locations to keep the contract alive. If that is true, it is a scam as well as a cruelty.
The contrast is stinging. A group of volunteers without technical means or a canine unit solved in one morning what public services failed to resolve in four years. The question is not how he was found, but why no one had looked there before. A mountainous area of Alicante is not the Andes, and the victim's vehicle had been pointing to the spot from day one.
The Discrepant Distance
The figures vary, and that variation is the heart of the matter. The mother spoke of 15 meters. The Guardia Civil placed the discovery around 100 meters. The Adonay association, which found him, stated 120 meters. Three versions, three sources, one same mountain.
Some argue that the difference is irrelevant because the terrain is rugged, with slopes and undergrowth that hide any shape just a few steps away. Others respond that an abandoned motorcycle marks an obvious search perimeter, and anyone with a couple of free hours would have combed the area. Between these two positions lies an uncomfortable fact: the body had been for four years within walking distance.
Probable Suicide, Unanswered Autopsy
The dominant hypothesis is voluntary death. Félix, as far as is known, had written online about his intention to take his own life, and the scenario—a man leaving alone during the pandemic crisis, parking his vehicle—fits with other similar cases. Suicide silently consumes middle-aged men without making headlines.
However, the official cause of death has still not been communicated to the family. The mother has confirmed that she was able to bury her son—funeral on a Friday, burial in the cemetery of Alicante—and that her lawyer is trinc the case file without having received the final results. Without a closed autopsy, any certainty is an act of faith.
This gap is fertile ground for rumor. A supposed private investigator linked to the family even published that it was all a story and that where the body was exactly found was being hidden. Without official data on the table, such claims spread unchecked.
Who Searches for the Missing in Spain
What this case reveals is not a mystery, but a system. Searches depend on media pressure, family efforts, or luck. When any of these three are lacking, the case goes dormant. The case of Esther López has been rightly highlighted, found by a road leading to her town and not by a major state search. The missing without a voice have no one looking for them.
Underlying this is an issue of money and priorities. The same administration that deploys helicopters to fine someone for walking without a mask does not dedicate a morning's search to the mountain where an ownerless motorcycle was found. This is not an isolated failure: it is a pattern.
Félix José Esquerdo now rests in a niche, four years after leaving home. If the autopsy eventually confirms what everyone suspects, the case will close with a suicide and no one held responsible. And if the report contains anything that doesn't fit, someone had better have a better explanation ready than the difference between 15 and 120 meters.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication.
Read the full discussion (482 replies).
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