Missing person
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Francisco Mayorga, Paco 'El del molino' ('The one from the mill'), as his neighbours in the Malaga province town of Almogía know him, went missing on Saturday 8 March. The 83-year-old man was last seen entering his house by a relative that he had spent the evening with. The Guardia Civil is avoiding speculation, but is already describing it as a "worrying disappearance."
"We fear the worst," said Cristina Cuenca, who is one of Paco's closest relatives. The man doesn't have children and he spends a lot of time with Cristina's brother, José Manuel, who was also the last person to see him on Saturday night. Both men were football fans, so they had decided to watch the football match between Barcelona and Osasuna that night, but the event was cancelled due to the death of Barça's doctor, Carles Miñarro.
Despite the unexpected turn of events, Paco stayed over to watch another match, during which he and José Manuel discussed the old man's plans to go and see the presentation of the Semana Santa Easter week poster on Sunday morning, as he was part of the local brotherhood.
Paco left his relatives' house shortly after 11pm. José Manuel watched him, as he walked the 20 metres between the two houses, mindful that Paco is "a bit clumsy" and fearing that he might slip. When he saw him enter the house, built in the place of an old mill (hence Paco's nickname), José Manuel closed the door.
Everybody knows that Paco is not an early bird, so suspicions weren't raised until later that day. When he didn't show up to the presentation of the poster, they put it down to the bad weather.
However, when Paco didn't go to José Manuel's house to watch the match between Madrid and Rayo Vallecano at 4pm that afternoon, the family started to worry. Paco didn't answer his phone, which sometimes happened because of his poor hearing. "My mother thought that someone had picked up the phone on our last attempt to reach him, but she is not sure," said Cristina.
When Cristina's brother returned from La Rosaleda stadium from watching a match live, he decided to go to Paco's house and have a look. The door was closed, but not locked. He had to push it, because the wood had swollen from the rain.
José Manuel realised that something was wrong, as soon as he entered. He found two drops of blood on the staircase leading to the first floor and Paco's dentures on the floor. There was also only one of Paco's slippers, "as if he had been hit and taken out there by force", as Cristina speculated.
The house was in a state of disarray. The heater was on, but there was not a single sign of Paco's disappearance. His family said that he would never leave like that. "The house was completely ransacked, it was horrible," said Cristina. They decided to leave the investigation to the Guardia Civil and didn't touch or check anything, until the police arrived. On Monday, the Guardia Civil carried out an exhaustive initial inspection in search of evidence.
Paco didn't even have credit or debit cards, only the bankbook, which he used to withdraw his pension. According to Cristina, he had been worried lately because he suspected that someone was taking money from the house. They didn't think anything of it and thought it was just an old man's tales. However, Paco's disappearance has made them doubt.
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