Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
DÉNIA, Spain — A family in this coastal town in Alicante province has uncovered human bones in the former family home, in a case that police believe could solve a decades-old disappearance — even though the alleged crime has long since prescribed.
Last week, relatives returned to the house in central Dénia, just behind the town hall, where they had lived until 17 years ago. They persuaded the current owner — a woman who lives alone — to let them break up the floor of what is now a small living room but was once an interior patio. Beneath the concrete, they found bones.
On Wednesday, the family went to the National Police station to report that they believed the remains belonged to a man who vanished in 1994. According to the family, his own father killed him during an argument over drugs, dismembered the body, and buried the parts in several holes in the patio.
Police have confirmed that the bones are human. Forensic experts are now working to extract DNA and compare it with samples from family members to confirm the identity. The alleged perpetrator, the victim’s father, died several years ago.
The disappearance itself is well documented. Sources close to the investigation say the victim’s mother filed a missing person report with the National Police years after her son was last seen. What has surprised investigators is why the case has resurfaced now, more than 30 years later.
Two main versions are circulating among police. The first, reported earlier by local newspaper La Marina Plaza, claims that the father confessed to the killing on his deathbed. Both father and son were heroin users at the time and argued over a dose. The father allegedly killed his son, cut up the body, and buried it in the patio. Years later, the victim’s sister became determined to verify the story and, together with other family members, pressed the current owner for permission to dig.
The second version suggests that the mother and sister may have witnessed the murder and helped conceal it for decades. After the father and later the mother died, the sister allegedly waited until the statute of limitations had expired before revealing the secret to the rest of the family and then contacting the police — a sequence of events that has left investigators puzzled.
The house, a two-storey property on Hospital Street, underwent renovations after the family moved out, converting the old patio into several rooms including the small sitting area where the remains were found.
Officers from the Judicial and Scientific Police in the Marina Alta region have secured the site and are continuing their inquiries. Once DNA results are available, the full file will be sent to a court in Dénia.
Although any potential prosecution is impossible due to the passage of time and the death of the main suspect, authorities hope the identification will at least bring some closure to the family and formally close a long-forgotten missing person case.
