Madrid/Roberto Fernández Magriñat, an 84-year-old Cuban doctor who has been missing since September 7 in Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, remains unaccounted for. What began as a search for an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer’s has become an investigation into a possible homicide, after his 51-year-old son was arrested and sent to provisional prison.
According to the first information spread by the family, Fernández Magriñat was last seen around 9:30 in the morning in the vicinity of Virgen del Pilar street, in the center of Torrejón. The son initially explained that his father had left the house while he was sleeping.
As the investigations progressed, investigators detected inconsistencies in his story and began to focus attention on the family environment. The son, who had filed a missing person report, was arrested on September 10 and was later placed in provisional prison for an alleged crime of homicide, according to several Spanish media reports.
The case is being investigated by agents from Group XII of the Madrid Police Headquarters and the Torrejón de Ardoz Police Station. Roberto, however, is still missing and the Police are trying to clarify what happened after his trace was lost.
Fernández Magriñat was born in Havana and worked as a cardiologist in Cuba before emigrating to Spain
Behind the name that has been circulating on wanted posters in Madrid for more than a week there is a long Cuban history. According to his brother Orlando, Fernández Magriñat was born in Havana and worked as a cardiologist in Cuba before emigrating to Spain.
The exact date of his departure from the Island has not been determined, but in November 2000 he had already obtained Spanish nationality by residence. A resolution published in the Official State Gazette includes his full name, his Cuban nationality and the concession dated November 8 of that year.
Fernández Magriñat continued practicing medicine in Spain. The Official College of Physicians of Madrid maintain your professional registration and different directories place him for years as a general practitioner both in Torrejón de Ardoz and in the capital.
Doctoralia, a Spanish platform for searching for doctors and health centers, still maintains a token in your name linked to the Cellosa Clinic, on 12 La Solana Street in Torrejón, and to another consultation on Félix Boix Street, in the Madrid district of Chamartín. It also appears in old medical charts from private insurers and healthcare centers. Adeslas, Asisa, Sanitas, DKV and Mapfre were, among other companies, among the entities with which he worked.
According to his brother, Roberto had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s for about eight years, although the family had noticed symptoms before. The deterioration had become increasingly evident and he alternated moments of lucidity with others of strong disorientation.
Some Spanish media also point out that the detained son is a doctor and has had professional activity in Torrejón
He had three children, two girls and a boy, and had been separated from the mother of the son now detained for more than 25 years, according to Orlando’s testimony.
The reconstruction of the hours before the disappearance has become one of the central points of the case. Orlando told Telecinco that a niece came to the house and asked about Roberto. The son explained that his father had fallen and that he had put a band-aid on him. He later claimed that he fell asleep and that when he woke up, his father was no longer home.
The Police initially began looking for a person who was especially vulnerable due to his age and Alzheimer’s, but the alleged contradictions in the story led to them considering the disappearance as “disturbing” and opening a criminal investigation.
Roberto’s brother also added another element not yet independently verified. According to Orlando, his nephew was awaiting trial for another homicide scheduled for December of this year and had already been detained for that case.
Some Spanish media they also point out that the detained son is a doctor and has had professional activity in Torrejón. For now, nine days after the disappearance, family, friends and neighbors continue to spread the image of Roberto Fernández Magriñat.
