Paula Perassi disappeared on September 18th, 2011. She left her home in San Lorenzo, Argentina, where she lived with her two children, of 6 and 3 years old, and was never seen again.
Everyone –her family, friends and authorities– are certain that she’s dead, but they’ve never been able to find her body. However, they have a pretty good idea of what happened to her, thanks to witnesses, anonymous tips and an intense investigation that has revealed very dark secrets from Argentina’s police.
When Paula went missing, she was pregnant with the child of Gabriel Strumia, a married businessman. The working theory is that Gabriel and his wife, Roxana Michl, picked Paula up on that day and took her to a remote area to have a clandestine abortion. It’s unclear if the abortion was voluntary or forced (Paula’s family believe in the latter), but things went wrong and she died. Sturmia called some local cops who helped him cover up the crime.
Five policemen are currently awaiting trial for this case, next to Sturmia, his wife and Mirta Rusñisky, the woman who did the abortion. Her ex son in law is one of the key witnesses for the prosecution. Roxana Michl also tried to have her son lie by telling investigators that he’d seen Paula alive on a later date, but this of course proved to be false.
This case has been pretty controversial, not only because of the alleged involvement of law enforcement but also because a judge decided to let the 8 defendants go free until they have to face trial.