Tehuel de la Torre (; born 26 March 1999) was an Argentine trans man who disappeared in the afternoon of 11 March 2021 when he left his home in San Vicente, Buenos Aires, heading for Alejandro Korn to meet Luis Alberto Ramos (37), who had offered him a job as a waiter at a birthday party. His whereabouts remain unknown. The investigation led to the arrest of two men, who are being prosecuted for homicide. Ramos was convicted of his murder in 2024 and sentenced to life in prison.
Disappearance De la Torre was born on 26 March 1999. At the time of his disappearance, he lived in San Vicente, Buenos Aires, with his mother, his partner and her son, and his brother. De la Torre had started his gender transitioning a few months before his disappearance.
On 11 March 2021, De la Torre left his home heading for Alejandro Korn to meet Luis Alberto Ramos, a 37-year-old man whom he had met at several Workers' Socialist Movement rallies. Ramos had offered him a job as a waiter at a birthday party. He took a bus and arrived in Alejandro KornConfirmation came from records of the SUBE card and a geolocation report that placed Tehuel's mobile phone approximately 70 metres from Luis Alberto Ramos's home. The last connection of the device was recorded at 00:24 on 12 March 2021. to meet with Ramos. The interview was scheduled for 19:00 but he arrived at approximately 16:30.
At 00:24 on 12 March, the last signal from Tehuel de la Torre's mobile phone was recorded from Luis Ramos's address.
On 13 March, his family reported his disappearance to the police. A destroyed phone and jacket belonging to De la Torre were found in a raid to Ramos' house on 16 March.
Report On Saturday March 13, his girlfriend Michelle first went to the police station of San Vicente (Comisaría 1.ª de San Vicente) to file a missing person's report. She was initially rejected, but after returning with an older neighbor, she was able to obtain a report. She stated that they originally did not want to take her report because she was 17.They wouldn't take my report because I was 17. When I was describing him to the police, one of the officers said to me, “Oh, he's a trans guy.” I felt a bit of discrimination and hostility. Later, I went back with a neighbor. They told us we had to file the report in Alejandro Korn because that's where he disappeared. They took us in a car
Michelle, Tehuel's girlfriend.Original quote, in Spanish: No me quisieron tomar la denuncia por tener 17 años. Cuando lo describía a la policía, una de las oficiales me dijo: «ah es un pibe trans». Sentí un poco de discriminación y mala gana. Más tarde volví con una vecina. Nos dijeron que teníamos que hacer la denuncia en Alejandro Korn porque ahí es donde él desapareció. Nos llevaron en un móvil.
Investigation The investigation was assigned to Karina Guyot, prosecutor of the Decentralized Fiscal Unit of San Vicente.
2021
On 13 March, police geolocated Tehuel de la Torre's mobile phone at Ramos's home.
A destroyed phone and clothes belonging to Tehuel were found in the first raids of the Ramos's house on March 16. Blood samples were also collected at the scene for analysis.
On March 18, after learning of Tehuel's disappearance, the Department of Gender and Diversity Policies of the Municipality of San Vicente intervened and contacted the family.
On March 23, Luis Alberto Ramos was arrested in Dock Sud; he had shaved his hair and deleted the content of his mobile phone. He refused to make a statement.
On 26 March, the Buenos Aires Provincial Minister of Security, Sergio Berni, addressed the case in an interview on Crónica TV:One is a hopeless optimist and always has to approach work with the hope of finding the best possible outcome, but the research is pointing to the worst-case scenario.
Sergio Berni, excerpt from interviewOriginal quote, in Spanish: Uno es un optimista patológico y siempre tiene que apuntar a trabajar con la esperanza de encontrarlo de la mejor manera, pero la investigación está apuntando a la peor hipótesis.On 27 March, Oscar Alfredo Montes (46), a friend of Ramos, was detained by order of prosecutor Karina Guyot. He was charged with concealment in conjunction with false testimony.
On 30 March, a photo detected on Montes's mobile phone was made public, showing Tehuel together with both detainees at Montes's home for the last time. It was saved to Tehuel's Gmail account at 20:42 on the day of his disappearance.
On April 5, Minister Estela Díaz of the Ministry of Women, Gender Policies and Sexual Diversity of the Province of Buenos Aires, met with Tehuel's family and the ministerial team, giving her commitment to closely follow the investigation.
On April 21, the Ministry of Security, through the Provincial Directorate of Registry of Missing Persons, offers a reward of between 1.5 and 2 million pesos to those who can provide data leading to Tehuel's whereabouts.
On May 26, after different testimonies within the framework of the investigation, a search was carried out with tactical divers and specialized personnel in Alejandro Korn's Mirin lagoon, close to the Ramos and Montes homes.
On June 3, searches were carried out at an ecopointA municipal waste reception facility where recycling activities are carried out. and on a CEAMSE property near the Ramos and Montes homes, giving negative results.
On June 10, a raid was carried out at the house of a neighbor of Ramos in the La Nueva Esperanza neighborhood. That same day, a woman reported having seen a person similar to Tehuel in Caleta Olivia, so the prosecutor's office sent an appeal for a sticker with his face to be made in the city.
On June 11, two searches were carried out; one on the CEAMSE property in the city of José León Suárez, and another in the home of "Agüita" (a friend of the detainees), in Alejandro Korn.
On June 15, there were raids and searches in a butcher in the neighborhood La Esperanza.
On July 22, the minister of the Ministry of National Security, Sabina Frederic, met with Andrés and Ailén de la Torre, father and sister of Tehuel, in order to evaluate progress in the case and provide search tools together with the Argentine Federal Police and the Federal Search System for Missing and Lost Persons (SIFEBU).
On August 13, through resolution number 1224/21, the Ministry of National Security of the Province of Buenos Aires doubled the reward (from 2 million to 4 million pesos) for those who could provide valid information that contributes to the whereabouts of Tehuel
On 10 September a bloodstain belonging to De la Torre was found on a wall in Ramos' house.
On 9 November, Ramos and Montes were charged with aggravated homicide due to hatred of gender identity – a change from the original classification – and the prosecution took the case to trial.
At the end of 2021, Alberto Ramos's house was demolished.
2022 On March 11, 2022, on the anniversary of his disappearance, the Ministry of National Security increased the reward to 5 million pesos (around US$36,000 in August 2022) for information about Tehuel's whereabouts.
Court case The charges brought forth by the family are divided into two parts: On the one hand, there are Norma, his mother, and Verónica Alarcón, his older sister, represented by lawyer Alejandro Valle, focusing on prosecuting the suspects. The strongest line of investigation is that Ramos murdered him and that there was a conspiracy between Montes and Ramos, the two individuals who have been arrested so far. In addition, there are two other people who may be involved.
Alejandro Valle, Norma's lawyerTehuel's father, Andrés de la Torre, is represented by lawyers Marcela Mancini and Vanesa Vargas, who are part of the Collective of Translesbofeminist Lawyers, who question that the prosecutor's office focuses the investigation on the search for a body.We are interested in all possibilities being investigated (...) Does the possibility exist that Tehuel is alive? Yes, it exists, because there is nothing in the case file that says otherwise with certainty. Two drops of blood with DNA compatible with Tehuel's relatives were found at Ramos's home, but that could have been the result of anything: a blow, a punch, some accidental cut, any number of things... That proves Tehuel was there and proves that Ramos and Montes lied, but it does not prove Tehuel is dead.
Vanesa Vargas, Andrés's lawyer
2021 On July 17, Montes gave a false statement confirmed by the Prosecutor's Office in which he provided incorrect and false information.
On 8 November, the prosecutor's office decided to charge Ramos and Montes with aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity, a change from the original classification.
On 9 November, Ramos and Montes appeared for questioning and gave statements.
On 10 November, Ramos and Montes testified for the first time and denied all charges. They admitted to having met Tehuel de la Torre, but claimed he later went back to his home.
The prosecutor's office decides to charge them with homicide aggravated by hatred of gender identity, a change from the original qualification.
2022 On March 12, 2022, Martín Rizzo, Judge of Guarantees No. 8 of Cañuelas, committed the case to oral trial, case No. 6753/1776 – IPP 06-05-001038-21/00, for aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of sexual orientation and gender identity against Tehuel De la Torre. Luis Alberto Ramos and Oscar Alfredo Montes were tried for the homicide of Tehuel (article 80 of the Criminal Code) with the aggravating circumstance of hatred of gender identity, thus prosecuting them as a hate crime (subsection 4). The court accepted the splitting of the case, with the aim of continuing the search for Tehuel, under the San Vicente prosecutor's office.
On 7 September, a more extensive search was carried out across 39 fields and streams in the neighbourhood where Luis Ramos was active in the hours following Tehuel's disappearance. However, the results yielded no clear evidence of his whereabouts. Following this last field search, using trained dogs and divers in a nearby stream, no new data emerged to justify continuing with similar activities.
In November 2022, prosecutor Karina Guyot charged Oscar Alberto Montes and Luis Alberto Ramos with qualified homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity, based on evidence including analysis of security cameras, more than 20 photos on Ramos's mobile phone dated 11 March, fragments of Tehuel's mobile phone, and blood stains.
2023 On 29 May, Norma Nahuelcura, Tehuel de la Torre's mother, led the launch of a campaign demanding that the trial for her son's disappearance be brought forward. The inaugural press conference took place at the premises of the Bachillerato Popular Travesti Trans Mocha Celis, accompanied by various organisations and officials. Norma Nahuelcura expressed her desperation: "I want this trial to be brought forward and for them to tell me what happened to Tehuel". The family's lawyer, Flavia Centurión, revealed that the tentative trial date was August 2027 and stated: "What we are going to ask and demand is that the trial date be moved forward. We cannot wait that long for justice to tell us what happened to Tehuel". The gathering included the head of the INADI, Greta Pena, and the Under-Secretary of Diversity Policies at the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity, Agustina Ponce, who underlined the need for judicial reform and specific protocols for searching for missing LGBTI+ people. Gaita Nihl, tutor at the Mocha Celis school, emphasised: "When I think of Tehuel, I think he could have been any one of us".