Police investigate disappearance of three women in Madrid town

Police are investigating the disappearance and possible murder of three women in the Madrid satellite town of Majadahonda.

All three have ties to a 32-year-old man who was renting out a house in this quiet, middle-income municipality. One of the missing women is the last tenant to reside in the house; the other two are the landlord’s aunt (and owner of the property), and a prostitute who disappeared some time ago in the western area of Madrid.

The Civil Guard is not ruling out the possibility of more cases emerging as the investigation progresses.

The search also yielded a meat grinder with remains inside, including something resembling a tooth

The investigation began when law enforcement officers received a call from the brother of a 55-year-old woman from Argentina who was living in the house. The man said he had been unable to contact his sister for days, even though they usually talk on a daily basis.

The last time she was seen alive, the woman was living at number 6, Sacedilla street. But 15 days ago she stopped calling her brother in Argentina, who instead began receiving SMS messages.

The messages claimed that she had moved abroad and had nothing much to talk about. This sounded odd to her brother, who attempted to reach her repeatedly, to no avail.

Majadahonda police went to see the landlord, a 32-year-old Spaniard with a history of psychiatric problems. Inconsistencies in his statement made the officers suspicious.

Police sources describe the man’s attitude throughout the interrogation as “very cold,” as though the matter at hand had nothing to do with him. At first he refused the police access to his house and demanded a court warrant.

The local judge signed the order, and law enforcement officers conducted a thorough search of the home in the presence of the suspect’s father.

Officers found that half the home had been repainted, and that the rest was covered in plastic and ready for a fresh coat of paint. The Civil Guard’s criminal investigators found a few red stains in one of the rooms that looked like human blood, and sent samples to a lab.

A few days ago we heard a loud noise, like furniture, but no screams or anything like that”

Neighbors of the missing woman

The search also yielded a meat grinder with remains inside, which were also sent along for analysis. Investigators said that among the remains they uncovered was something resembling a tooth; they also found a blood-stained knife.

“The truth is we didn’t hear anything,” said some of the neighbors. “A few days ago we heard a loud noise, like furniture, but no screams or anything like that.”

The judge sent the suspect to preventive prison without bail until the missing woman’s whereabouts are determined.

“He did not cooperate. He firmly said from the beginning that he had nothing to do with her disappearance, and didn’t even explain about the paint,” said sources familiar with the investigation.

“In fact, he seems very well-versed in legal matters. Every time we asked him a question, he invoked a different article to justify his refusal to answer. He said he was self-taught,” said the same sources.

The missing woman’s brother has flown to Spain to help with the investigation and provide DNA samples to compare with those taken inside the house.