Alejandro Martin Perez, 26 years old, separated and a father to one child, holds the record for the most enigmatic disappearance on the island of La Palma. “As time goes on, we learn less” states María del Mar, his mother, who has not had any contact with her son for seven years and seven months.
The case of Alejandro, which is being examined by the Civil Guard, has been dismissed and is currently marked as temporarily closed, as there are no solid leads regarding his fate since May 11, 2017, the last occasion he was seen. “He left home that afternoon, coinciding with a sporting event,” the Vertical ascent, a mountain race recalls his mother. She did not see him again and, after making various calls to friends and family, she went to the Civil Guard to report him missing.
He wasn’t gone
“Perhaps because my son was young, they assumed it was a voluntary disappearance. They advised me not to worry, suggesting that he might have gone off with someone he knew. I didn’t believe it. Everything went awry from the very start,” explains María del Mar.
On May 13, a man discovered Alejandro’s car, a white Opel Corsa, amidst several banana plantations near the coastline of Tazacorte. “The doors were open and the window was down,” she recalls. His wallet was also found inside, containing his personal ID and house keys. “Many individuals entered that vehicle; no one secured it or examined it properly, and all potential evidence may have been destroyed,” laments his mother.

Alejandro, with his son, months prior to his disappearance. / ASSIGNED
The car keys and mobile phone were unaccounted for belonging to Alejandro, who had recently purchased them. “No one guides us on what to do when a loved one goes missing,” shares María del Mar. “He and I communicated daily, and he often stayed over at my home. I knew, and I still know, that he wouldn’t leave without informing me“. Following the discovery of the vehicle and at the urging of the family, the judicial police took over the case and thoroughly investigated Alejandro’s life and surroundings.
They confirmed that he had no mental health issues or depression. He was a father to a five-year-old boy whom he adored and had split from his wife a few months earlier. He resided in The Oar and earned a living doing small jobs without contracts, according to his mother. Various individuals claimed to have spotted Alejandro in different locations and situations across the island. But it wasn’t him.

María del Mar, Alejandro’s mother, continues her battle to uncover what happened to her son. / ASSIGNED
Subsequent investigations directed focus towards a circle of Alejandro’s acquaintances; however, no evidence has been established. “He wasn’t a party-goer or one for late nights, but he had friends from various backgrounds: both good and bad,” his mother recollects. Alejandro’s disappearance remains a mystery in a small community like El Remo, where he lived among 178 other residents. About twenty thousand people inhabit Los Llanos de Aridane, the island’s capital, where his mother still resides.
María del Mar has endured a plethora of tips, potential leads, false information, and speculations concerning her son’s fate: “They claimed he was dismembered, that they disposed of him in the sea in a barrel, even that his body was interred in a banana orchard… It has been such a long time…” As a nursing assistant, she is currently on leave and receiving treatment.
“They made him vanish”
Joaquín Amills, president of SOS Desaparecidos, an organisation supporting Alejandro’s family, is convinced that “there is not a single sign of suicide; someone made Alejandro disappear. There were third parties involved in this disappearance. We believe that someone deceived him and that Alejandro may have witnessed something he shouldn’t have.”
Alejandro’s son is now 12 years old. “He is aware that his father has vanished and nothing more. He isn’t considered an orphan, as it takes ten years for that status. Officially, he still has a father,” clarifies the grandmother. They have had to seek a declaration of absence for Alejandro in order to manage their daily lives without him. Seven years and seven months have elapsed, and Alejandro’s mother and son want to uncover what truly happened to him and where, they fear, his remains might lie.