26 January 2009
Rui Pedro's process to be archived soon
by Joana de Belém
Missing. Rui Pedro, who went missing from Lousada on the 4th of March 1998, is 22 years old on Wednesday. Diário de Notícias (DN) knows that within the PJ there is the belief that the youngster is dead, a theory that is seen as more likely than that of abduction for a paedophile network. Lawyer Ricardo Sá Fernandes says that there is no evidence of death. The case will be archived if new elements don't appear during the ongoing diligences, which will be the last ones
Boy's death is the strongest possibility, but there is a lack of evidence
The last diligences concerning the investigation into the disappearance of Rui Pedro in Lousada 11 years ago in March - the age that he was at that date - are being carried out, actions which are likely to prompt the closing of the process within months. DN knows that the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) investigators are convinced that the youngster is dead, despite a lack of evidence or certainty about how everything happened. DN was able to establish with sources that are close to the process that the strongest hypothesis, at the moment, is death (pushing the theory of abduction for paedophile networks into the background), and it is admitted that the investigation will soon be concluded and the case closed. Nevertheless, new elements are still being searched for, in a final attempt before the process is archived.
The process, which was avoked by the Central Department for Penal Investigation and Action, is still under investigation and there is a rogatory letter abroad that has not obtained an answer yet, but the expectation is for the case to be closed within the next few months. Contacted by DN, the PJ doesn't confirm the homicide version: "We could only state that if there was a cadaver, one of the possibilities is that he is not alive anymore, but there are other [possibilities]", a police source said.
Filomena Teixeira and Manuel Mendonça, the parents of Rui Pedro - who will be 22 next Wednesday - don't believe the theory of death on the date of the disappearance, but they are convinced that the PJ "is doing something". Ricardo Sá Fernandes, the family's lawyer, confirmed to DN that there are currently diligences being carried out by the PJ in Oporto. "The process is not closed, diligences are being finalised which may bring new data. It's a last attempt to find out what happened", he said, not adding further detail about the ongoing initiatives.
"The investigation is ongoing and we still hope for results", the lawyer said. When questioned about the investigation lines and the hypothesis that death is the strongest one, he is peremptory: "That cannot be said. There is no element that points towards his death. There is no evidence whatsoever. But it's a possibility that we have to admit because Rui Pedro has disappeared. It cannot be denied that, since the beginning, it's a possibility. But we cannot rely on possibilities, we need evidence." The lawyer says that the process will be closed over the coming months and recognises that it "may remain awaiting better evidence", which means that it is archived until new elements appear, which justify its reopening. Until today, and since 1999, the sole arguido in the process is Afonso Dias, the adult with whom Rui Pedro asked his mother to go on a ride with on the day that he disappeared (4th of March 1998), which she refused because he was so much older. Filomena continues to believe that the individual, then aged 22, didn't tell everything that he knows.
Afonso was named a suspect, but he has always claimed his innocence. In late 2007 he reiterated that version and guaranteed that he was never summoned to depose within the process that has been ongoing for eleven years. At that date, Afonso was already a long course lorry driver, married and the father of a son.
source: Diário de Notícias, 26.01.2009