Police find body of missing 16-year-old boy in Tagus River in Toledo

Recovery of the body

Emergency services in Toledo located the body of 16-year-old Diego L. in the Tagus River on Friday, 2 October, concluding a three-day search operation. According to the Castile-La Mancha government delegation, search teams found the body at approximately 12:55 on the left bank of the river near the Cigarral del Angel estate. The location sits several kilometers downstream from the initial search perimeter around the San Martin Bridge. The discovery occurred hours after regional authorities expanded the search radius along the riverbanks following the teen's disappearance on Tuesday morning.

Disappearance and initial search

Diego had been reported missing since Tuesday, 29 September, after last being seen at 07:26 while stepping off a bus on his way to his secondary school. Missing persons association SOS Desaparecidos had distributed a public appeal describing the teenager as 1.64 meters tall, with a slim build, and wearing a black tracksuit at the time he went missing. His family formally filed a missing person report with authorities on Wednesday, prompting the National Police to launch an urgent search protocol. Early ground teams concentrated their initial efforts on the section of the Tagus River extending between the San Martin Bridge, the La Cava bridge area, and the mill adjacent to the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha Fabrica de Armas campus. In that immediate perimeter, investigators recovered several of Diego's personal items, including his backpack, his mobile telephone, and cash.

Deployment across river and land

The field operation resumed at 09:30 on Friday morning with plans to search continuously during daylight hours. Between 30 and 35 emergency responders operated directly on the river and its banks. The coordinated deployment brought together specialized units of the National Police, including the Special Operations Group (GEO), canine teams dispatched from Madrid, an underwater search unit, aerial drone teams, and local citizen security officers. These teams worked alongside firefighters from the Toledo municipal fire station, officers from the Toledo Local Police, and volunteers from Civil Protection. Shortly before the body was located downstream, Toledo provincial police commissioner Manuel Dominguez Corcobado addressed reporters at the riverbank base.

All hypotheses are open. We are going to try to find Diego as soon as possible.

Judicial inquiry and phone analysis

Parallel to the riverbank search, approximately 15 officers assigned to the Judicial Police brigade conducted independent investigative work. Investigators extracted and examined digital data from Diego's recovered mobile phone and established contact with individuals who had interacted with him prior to his disappearance. The provincial police command stressed that detectives did not limit their inquiries to the watercourse, exploring multiple hypotheses simultaneously across different parts of the city.

We are conducting investigations, the phone has been analyzed and contact is being made with everyone who was in touch with him, and we will try to locate him as quickly as possible for the peace of mind of the parents.

Following the recovery of the body on Friday afternoon, judicial and police authorities initiated formal procedures to confirm the circumstances surrounding the teenager's death.