Eight days after disappearing in Galicia, still no sign of missing teen
Investigators rule out attack by a man who verbally harassed the 18-year-old as she walked home late at night from the local fiestas
The Spanish Civil Guard continues to search for a young woman from Madrid who went missing in the early hours of August 22 while vacationing with her family in Galicia.
The family believes that Diana is “being held against her will” and could be “in any part of Spain
Diana Quer was walking back home from the local fiestas at the time of her disappearance. Investigators now believe that the 18-year-old made it as far as the family home, on the outskirts of A Pobra do Caramiñal, but never went inside the house for unknown reasons.
She sent one last message to a friend in Madrid at 2.43am through the WhatsApp service on her cellphone. In it, she wrote that she was concerned because there was a man calling out to her on the street: “I’m getting really scared, a Gypsy man has been calling out to me.”
Her friend replied: “What did he say to you?”
“Come over here, brunette!” answered Diana in her last message.
She never read her friend’s next reply, an analysis of her WhatsApp account reveals. But the police believe that she continued to walk toward the house that she shared with her mother Diana and sister Valeria.
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The Civil Guard said that all avenues of investigation remain open, and is searching the hills around Diana’s holiday home. Navy divers are also combing the Arousa estuary for signs of the missing teen.
In the meantime, the police have located a man who was reported by several teenage girls to have been harassing them at the local fiestas with similar cries of “Come over here.” This individual, described as dark-skinned, tall and displaying a tattoo on his shoulder, works setting up amusement rides at local festivities.
After questioning him and two colleagues, the Civil Guard has ruled out any involvement by this man in Quer’s disappearance.The suspect admitted that he likes to “have fun” calling out to women who pass by.
A family dispute
Four days before her disappearance, Diana had a big argument with her relatives. Several witnesses said they saw a family scene being played out at the local health center, and that Diana’s mother and sister came in “in a very distressed state” requesting medical assistance.
This led investigators to consider whether Diana may have tried to run away from home, then failed to make it back for some unknown reason. But Diana’s father, Juan Carlos Quer – who was not with his family at the time of the disappearance as he is divorced from his wife – has dismissed this possibility.
A search of the home has shown that Diana left without her ID card or any credit cards – just €20 in her pocket and a cellphone with a low battery life, as she told friends shortly before her disappearance.
Investigators have found no signs of violence and no physical evidence along the path that Diana took to return home in the early hours of August 22. She was last seen at 2.30am in front of a pizzeria located 1,100 meters from the residential estate where she was staying for the summer.
The family believes that Diana is “being held against her will” and could be “in any part of Spain.” Her sister Valeria has made numerous calls on social media asking for her sister’s safe return. On Monday she was taken into hospital after suffering an anxiety attack.
English version by Susana Urra.
