Shock and suffering have flooded Argentina. And the teenager Agostina Vega, 14 years old, has been murdered and dismembered, which has caused a wave of protests in the country. The little girl disappeared on the night of May 23 in the Argentine city of Córdoba and, after a week of searches by family, neighbors and authorities, she was found dismembered in an open field on the outskirts of the city. Specifically, the remains were found in a drainage ditch on Saturday, May 30.
According to the first investigations, Vega went to a family friend’s house with the intention of picking up a gift for his mother. However, the teenager was sexually assaulted and hanged. The first results of the autopsy indicate that she was dismembered with a kitchen knife.
The case has sparked outrage among citizens in the country. Thousands of protesters took to the streets with the aim of holding the government accountable and criticizing President Javier Milei.
Two arrested after the murder
After the girl’s body was found, the police arrested her mother’s ex-partner, Claudio Barrelier, 33, as the only suspect in the femicide. The detainee denies having killed the minor, but investigators point out that his criminal record shows that he had been arrested for kidnapping a young woman a year ago.
15 days later, the police have arrested a second suspect. In this case, the accused is Osvaldo Fassetta, 47, charged with aggravated concealment. His defense has questioned the detention and has explained that there is evidence that places him in a kiosk until 4:00 in the morning.
The last person who saw her alive
The last person to see Agostina before her disappearance was the taxi driver who took her to the house of the alleged murderer. As he explained, the teenager stopped him and asked him to take her to the address of her mother’s ex-partner. During the ride, the driver asked the teenager about her age and why she was traveling to that street.
When asked, the girl responded by assuring that she was going to meet her mother’s boyfriend and that they were going to surprise her. The prosecutor points out that the murder of the minor was committed in the first hours of her disappearance, between 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, so there is not much room for new suspects.
Likewise, images from street security cameras show how the young woman entered Barrelier’s home on the night of her disappearance. Once the first signs are determined, toxicological analyzes must determine if the girl was drugged.
