548 Days: Abducted Online (2023) s01e02 Episode Script
Episode 2
548 DAYS
ABDUCTED ONLINE
PREVIOUSLY
ANCHOR 1:
She was only 18 years old.
-abducted by a cult.
-Her parents
are devastated after her disappearance.
-ANCHOR 2: Patricia Aguilar.
-ANCHOR 3: Patricia.
-ANCHOR 4: Patricia.
-ANCHOR 5: Patricia.
I'LL CONTACT YOU.
We were confused.
ROSA: I couldn't just sit by and wait.
I checked every book, every notebook
ALBERTO: Esoteric symbols,
religious symbols, prayers
with instructions for a trip
And that's when I started to suspect
there could be a cult behind all this.
PATRICIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Don't worry about me. I'm happy.
For now, I'm not coming back.
ONLINE
TYPING
PATRICIA: After two years speaking with
him online,he was finally in front of me.
MY LOVE, HOW MANY WIVES WILL YOU HAVE?
I had a new family.
HOW DO I BECOME A RESIDENT?
AN OPTION IS TO GET PREGNAN
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ
SIX MINUTES AGO
ALBERTO: Making Steven's identity public
was a bit of a dangerous move.
At that moment, I got scared.
Steven decided we had to run away.
He told me to call the press
and fix everything.
Until I did, I'd be alone.
My dad was never home.
My mom was addicted to gambling.
I couldn't recognize my own daughter.
PATRICIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Send me 600 euros.
I'll come to the Spanish embassy
so you know I'm okay.
And after that, we'll see.
(OVER RECORDING)
You should all have been more aware
of how much you ignored me
and the family troubles.
You let Mom spend all day
in front of the PC,
doing nothing, no cleaning, no cooking
She neglects Aleix,
won't help him with homework.
And all you do is study and work,
and you ignore her.
You're just letting her go.
It's your fault she's suffering.
Why don't you do something?
It's your fault she's going through that.
You're a terrible father
because of this too.
The family had gone to hell.
548 DAYS
ABDUCTED ONLINE
CHAPTER II
THE TRIP
ALBERTO: I met Rosa when she was 14.
I was 15. It's been a lifetime.
-(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING ON VIDEO)
-(CHURCH BELL RINGING ON VIDEO)
About two years after getting married
ALBERTO AGUILAR
PATRICIA'S FATHER
we decided to have children.
That's when Patricia arrived.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
ALBERTO: (ON VIDEO)
Such a beautiful mommy.
Six years later, we had Aleix,
our second child.
(ROSA LAUGHING ON VIDEO)
ALBERTO: In the early years of marriage,
life pushes you to work
much harder, right?
While being a good father figure at home.
I had to work really hard.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
So, then,
Alberto and I decided I'd stay home.
ROSA POVEDA
PATRICIA'S MOTHER
ROSA: I'd look after our two children.
What does Mom do?
-YOUNG PATRICIA: (ON VIDEO) Mama!
-(LAUGHS)
-Mama!
-ROSA: (ON VIDEO) I couldn't believe.
I had it easier than Rosa.
I was always away
while she was stuck at home.
ROSA: At home, you have to deal
with the kids, you have to say no
Do this, do that
Arguments It's a bit harder.
To be honest,
I didn't look after them much.
I was at work all day.
The bakery took up most of my day.
I also wanted to become a firefighter.
I had to study and work out for the exam.
I didn't have much time
to spend with them.
All that affected our relationship.
Possibly, that caused Patricia to lose
her father figure at home in her teens.
All of that contributed to the situation.
Those weren't good years.
Luckily, we had Rosa's brother, Jose.
He had a soft spot for Patricia.
He loved her so much.
And in those times in which
we couldn't spend enough time with her,
the time we should have,
he was there and helped us out very often.
ROSA: Patricia was really close
to my brother. She relied on him a lot.
Growing up, he was always around.
They spent many hours together.
NOELIA BRU
PATRICIA'S COUSIN
In a way, he was more than an uncle.
He was like an older brother.
He was like a father.
ALBERTO: He was the person that helped her
discover how life worked.
He gave her this kind of
older brother figure,
who took her to new places.
(SCREAMS ON VIDEO)
To me, my uncle Jose was
He was my older brother.
(SIGHS) He was my life,
he meant the world to me.
I couldn't wait for Fridays to come,
so I could go to the movies with him
or to his place,
eat a burger,
or just go anywhere with him.
And he felt the same way
about spending time with me.
ROSA: My brother was always laughing.
In my memories, he's always laughing.
He loved spending time
with the whole family.
Especially at Christmas.
My brother and Christmas
were one and the same.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
(BOTH LAUGH ON VIDEO)
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE DISAPPEARANCE
VINALOPÓ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
ROSA: But Christmas was ruined in 2015.
Since then it was never the same.
My brother got sick when he was 29.
He was diagnosed with a pancreatitis.
Normally you can recover
from this at home,
but he had complications.
And four months later he was gone.
JOSÉ MANUEL POVEDA GUIRAU, 29 YEARS OLD
FROM YOUR PARENTS, SISTER, AND FAMILY
ROSA: I felt empty. I felt
I felt hopeless.
And my brother I couldn't understand.
I couldn't understand why he was gone.
PATRICIA: The last time I saw him
was in his hospital room. He seemed fine.
I mean, he could speak. And I told him,
"When you leave the hospital,
we're going shopping in Madrid."
He loved that.
(BREATHES DEEPLY, SNIFFLES)
I wish I could have kept my promise.
But it wasn't possible.
(SNIFFLES)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
It's what hurts the most.
(SNIFFLES)
I gave him a piece of pink quartz
because I'd read that it helped to heal,
that it absorbed the energy of illnesses.
I put it in his drawer for him,
so it would help him.
It didn't.
(BREATHES DEEPLY, SNIFFLES)
When he died, I dreamed
we were having a family meal.
And he was there.
And I dreamed he gave me a hug
and said goodbye. (EXHALES)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
When he arrived, I said to him,
"I thought you were dead."
And he said, "No, I was just hiding."
(SOBS, SNIFFLES)
(SOBBING)
(CHEERS ON VIDEO)
FEMALE VOICE 1: (ON VIDEO) It's a video!
FEMALE VOICE 2: (ON VIDEO)
Oh, it's a video!
(BOTH LAUGH ON VIDEO)
FEMALE VOICE: (ON VIDEO)
Is this thing recording?
(BOTH LAUGH ON VIDEO)
I'm not over it yet.
And I don't know if I ever will be.
Right now I just live with it.
I do have my happy moments, luckily.
(SNIFFLES) But that hole
it will always be there.
My mother had serious depression,
and she took refuge in front of a screen.
And I felt very lonely.
I just let the days go by. I tried to find
something to keep me distracted,
so I didn't have to think
and to stop ruminating.
Just ways to waste my time.
While I wasted my time,
I didn't think about it.
I didn't suffer so much.
And that didn't hurt.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
I didn't pay as much attention
to my kids anymore.
Or to my husband. Or to anyone.
PATRICIA: I think they never really knew
how much it affected me.
They couldn't even imagine.
To me, death couldn't be the end.
There had to be something after it.
And I wanted to know what it was.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
LIFE AFTER DEATH
IS THERE AN AFTERLIFE?
PATRICIA: That's why I started visiting
esoteric websites and investigating
how I could communicate with the dead
through astral projections.
Some people don't get it.
They just accept, very easily,
that there's nothing after death.
I could never accept it.
When they explained it to me as a child,
I got extremely upset,
I spent the whole night crying.
When that happened,
I needed to know where my uncle was,
if I'd ever be able to see him again.
MY UNCLE HAS JUST PASSED AWAY AND RECENTLY
I SAW A DARK ENTITY IN THE HALLWAY.
WAS IT A COINCIDENCE? WAS IT A DREAM?
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? THANK YOU!
SHARE
ADD ME ON WHATSAPP.
I'LL GUIDE YOU.
NOELIA: Patricia's suffering after
Jose's death changes everything for her.
That's when Patricia looks
for answers online, where she finds people
who tell her what she wants to hear.
TYPING
THEY DON'T DESERVE YOU.
NOELIA: Patricia was a vulnerable
teenager.
She needed to feel like she belonged
to a very close-knit family.
And sometimes, due to life,
this isn't possible.
If you showed affection to her
she'd cling to you,
and tell you everything.
WHEN THE APOCALYPSE ARRIVES,
YOU'LL BE A PRIME MASTER.
NOELIA: He gave her answers,
he spoke to her with affection,
helped her forget.
Every night, they'd speak about esoterism,
or anything she wanted.
IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER
TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU.
I CAN'T BREATHE IN THIS HOUSE ANYMORE.
Steven Manrique fabricated
the perfect reality for Patricia.
To the point he turned her into a robot.
He created two Patricias.
The Patricia who no longer liked
spending time with her family,
and the Patricia
who led a second life with Steven
in which she was an initiated,
a very important person
who would repopulate
the planet when the Apocalypse arrived.
SOON YOU'LL BE HERE,
AND YOU'LL BE A PRIME MASTER.
I CAN'T STOP THINKING
ABOUT HOW JOYFUL WE'LL BE TOGETHER.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH,
I WANT TO GIVE MYSELF TO YOU.
150 DAYS WITHOUT PATRICIA
But she's over 18 now
MALE ANCHOR: Leaving once you're 18,
like this girl,
is different than being kidnapped.
Someone who does interviews on TV and says
she's not in a cult,
it would seem she's not.
"I was never missing."
She says she was always reachable
and that she hadn't gone missing
ALBERTO: The media and the police
lost interest in the case.
We had no choice but to continue
the investigation on our own.
Noelia suggested to use
our fake Facebook account again.
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ
PRINCE GURDJIEFF
HI. A FEW DAYS AGO,
I SAW SOMETHING IN THE HALLWAY.
IT WAS LIKE A BIG, DARK BODY.
WHEN I LOOKED AGAIN,
IT WASN'T THERE ANYMORE.
I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ SENT YOU A MESSAGE.
WHAT COUNTRY ARE YOU FROM?
I'M FROM SPAIN.
HOW OLD ARE YOU?
TELL ME, WHAT THINGS DO YOU LIKE?
NOELIA: I couldn't believe it.
In my own computer screen,
I had the guy who'd abducted my cousin.
ESOTERISM, EGYPTIAN CULTURE
AND OIL PAINTING.
YOU MAY THINK I'M CRAZY,
BUT I SEE THINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN
I'M LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. CAN YOU HELP ME?
NOELIA: At that moment, I thought,
"This could be our only chance.
I can't waste it." I decided to go all in.
I SAW ON YOUR PROFILE THAT YOU KNOW
A LOT ABOUT THESE THINGS.
I'D LIKE TO KNOW YOU BETTER
SO YOU COULD TEACH ME.
DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME YOUR NUMBER,
SO WE CAN SPEAK OVER WHATSAPP?
IT'S MORE PRIVATE.
But it didn't work.
And I was about to find out why.
KAREN, IT'S GREA
YOU'RE INTO OIL PAINTING NOW.
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ HAS BLOCKED YOU.
He caught me. He didn't believe
I was who I said I was.
And he thought I was some Karen.
Who's this Karen?
KAREN, IT'S GREA
YOU'RE INTO OIL PAINTING NOW.
NOELIA: I had to find Karen.
I search through Steven's friends
and I found one Karen.
I'd seen her picture before.
ADD TO FRIENDS
NOELIA: I sent a friend request to Karen
from my Nadia account.
-And then
-(NOTIFICATION CHIMES)
KAREN GARCÍA ACCEPTED YOUR FRIEND REQUES
I THINK YOU KNOW STEVEN MARTÍNEZ.
I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.
I DON'T KNOW YOU
AND I DON'T KNOW ANY STEVEN.
A RELATIVE HAS GONE MISSING,
MY COUSIN PATRICIA.
NOELIA: She didn't want to talk to me.
So, I preferred not to insist too much.
I didn't want to mess up like with Steven.
But suddenly,
something makes her come back.
I WAS IN THE GROUP, BUT I LEFT.
BUT MY SISTER MAYI IS STILL INSIDE.
STEVEN IS A DANGEROUS MAN,
I'M SCARED OF HIM.
I'M SORRY, I CAN'T HELP YOU.
KAREN: (OVER RECORDING) I can't, I
I managed to leave the group,
I changed my number.
We stopped talking.
It was a terrible experience.
I don't want to go through it again.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING) Karen,
this is your opportunity
to save a lot of people.
For your sister, for the ones
who are already there, the future ones
If you don't want to tell your parents
to spare them the suffering, then don't,
just do it by yourself.
But we need you, Karen.
You're the only one
who's been inside and can talk and
Well, I'll keep fighting for them.
All right? If you change your mind,
please let me know. Bye.
I TOLD YOU, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW
ANYTHING ABOUT STEVEN.
BUT MAYBE MY MOM CAN HELP YOU.
HER NAME'S OLINDA.
OLINDA VALVERDE
MAYI'S MOTHER
I never thought about the kind of person
my daughter had married.
MAYI: I was already
very curious as a child.
I always wondered about life, and
I wanted to find different answers.
MAYI GARCÍA
STEVEN'S WIFE
Something to quench
my thirst for knowledge.
SATANISM
MAYI: I got interested in satanism,
Luciferianism
CEREMONY TO WORSHIP LUCIFER
MAYI: I listened to black metal music.
And I'm a bit special about clothes.
They need to be black.
I wasn't close to my parents.
Not enough to speak about these things.
OLINDA: I feel very guilty as a mother
for not being there
for her during her teens.
I focused on work a lot.
We didn't speak so much.
We didn't really know each other.
OLINDA: I feel so guilty for not spending
more time at home, with them.
I abandoned them for work.
So they could have everything
they needed, right?
I was always saying,
"The children are growing up,
"they don't need you anymore."
It's not true.
Their teens is when they need
their parents the most.
SATANIC NETWORK
MAYI: I was 16 years old
when I visited this website
where I read an article published
by someone called Giovanny.
Giovanny Papini
was Félix Steven Manrique Gómez.
We met to engage in alchemy,
that is, sexual intercourse.
After about five months of a relationship,
I got pregnant.
I never wanted to get married,
because our feelings
were all that mattered.
But I got married in the end
because my parents wanted me to.
OLINDA: When she told me she was pregnant,
as a single mother, it was frowned upon.
What would people say?
What would they think?
I always dreamed of a happy wedding,
so she'd have a life better than mine.
But that wedding didn't feel happy.
I felt that man was not what I was hoping
for my daughter.
It was really awful later on.
She left and I never saw her again.
It was difficult for me. Very difficult.
MY DEAR DAUGHTER, WHERE ARE YOU?
I hadn't heard about her for months.
I was fearing the worst.
MOM AND DAD WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU.
WE'RE WORRIED SICK.
OLINDA: Then I got a call
from a Spanish woman.
She explained everything to me in detail.
How it all happened.
What was going on then.
That's when reality hit me.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING) We're still
on time to stop this madness.
We want to join forces with other people
in our situation to fight together.
We'll work as one
and go after this guy together.
We can work together. I can tell you
where I think they are. I can try to
I'll do my best to save not just Patricia,
but the rest of the women as well.
(BREATHES DEEPLY) I felt like I was dying.
It was something
I was not aware of at all.
How could my daughter
end up in this situation?
I (SOBS)
so much pain.
I thought, "Where's my baby girl?"
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
180 DAYS WITHOUT PATRICIA
FEMALE ANCHOR: Patricia Aguilar
was indoctrinated online
by this person when she was 16.
He asked her, when she was still a minor,
to send him sexual videos.
PATRICIA: Since Steven's face was shown
in the media, he got more paranoid.
He told us the ones above
had ordered him to leave Lima.
So, we went to San Martín de Pangoa,
a region about 12 hours by bus from Lima.
It's in the jungle,
and it's a very dangerous zone.
MAYI: We didn't consider ourselves a cult.
It wasn't fair that the media was showing
his face, and also ours, and the kids'.
It was wrong.
We considered ourselves to be a family.
10,000-SOL REWARD
FOR THE LOCATION OF THIS GROUP.
PATRICIA: Since we arrived in Pangoa,
Steven made it very clear,
I wasn't Patricia anymore,
my name was Silvana.
Patricia no longer existed.
The children knew very well
there was no Patricia there.
After a while, we forgot about Patricia.
She was only Silvana.
PASSWORD
DELETE ACCOUN
MAYI: As part of Steven's hiding strategy,
he ordered
Patricia to close her accounts,
Gmail, Facebook, I mean
he ordered everything be deleted.
ARE YOU SURE?
YES
MAYI: It was like making
Patricia's digital version disappear.
ACCOUNT DELETED
PATRICIA: Steven was obsessed
with us not being found.
Apart from changing my name
and having me delete all my accounts
he forced me to get my hair cut.
The new apartment in Pangoa
was deplorable.
Water and electricity cuts,
we could go weeks
without being able to wash,
without any hygiene
We had no money for food.
The little money we could get was spent
on candles, ayahuasca,
and anything needed for the rituals
or anything the ones above ordered.
MAYI: We'd gone from bad to worse.
It wasn't a suitable place to live,
especially with kids.
PATRICIA: Steven, little by little,
as he felt more cornered, as his name
and face got more and more exposure,
he got more and more violent, and
it got to a point
where he got very violent.
He used to beat the children brutally.
He left them with horrible bruises.
For his beatings, he used a chicote,
which is a sort of leather whip
with three tips.
So, it's like you're being hit
with three whips at the same time.
(SNIFFLES) He used to beat the children
with it, and us women as well.
And the children, they could get a beating
just because they touched his stuff,
his books, figurines,
that was enough to beat them.
And Mayi's son used to get it the worst.
He really had it in for that boy.
MAYI: I don't know why
I didn't take my kids and run away.
I don't understand why. I should have.
PATRICIA: One day, the children,
Steven and I were at home
and I couldn't take it anymore.
I said I was leaving.
He told me that, if I left,
he'd take it out on the children.
I couldn't just leave.
I couldn't leave him alone with the kids,
I knew what he could do to them.
-(WHIP LASHING)
-(SNIFFLES)
(KID YELPING)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
You realize that the person
you used to know
isn't the person you're living with now.
He was a different person.
Sometimes he insulted me
and I'd cover my ears.
I didn't want to cry in front of anybody.
Not in front of Paola and Patricia. Yes.
But I still cried, I covered my face
and cried. I couldn't help it.
(CRYING QUIETLY)
I I loved him so deeply.
I felt affection.
I also considered him
a spiritual guide, a master.
So, I justified it all, right?
"No, it was me who provoked him,
because I raised my voice.
"I shouted too, so" I justified it.
We put him before ourselves.
We would have even died for him.
But it reached a point when he asked us
to do things that were just too much.
One time, these girls living next door,
they were very pretty.
There were rumors
that they used to be prostitutes.
And I mentioned that to him. Bad idea.
He said "Those are the witches
I was looking for. They'll help me to
"to make some initiations.
"Speak with them and arrange a meeting."
I just couldn't do it.
They were minors. So, I told him "No."
Steven was furious.
He wanted to sleep with them.
What he was asking was too much.
I couldn't do it.
We got into an argument, we fought.
And when we were in the middle
of the argument,
he grabbed me by the neck.
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
(GAGS)
MAYI: I was running out of air.
And I remember
Patricia's voice saying, "Let her go!"
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
PATRICIA: I saw how Steven's hands
had left marks
in her neck, even his nails.
That's how much he squeezed.
I went to the bathroom
and stayed there for a while, crying
calling for my mom
Just thinking of my mom.
So (SNIFFLES)
It was very hard. (SOBS) I missed them.
(SNIFFLES) But I didn't know what to do.
PATRICIA: I couldn't sleep that night.
I got up from bed and left the room.
I locked Steven in. I needed space.
I needed to get away from it all.
So, I sought comfort in the only thing
that's always made me feel free.
("DU HAST" PLAYING)
Do you want to live till death do us part
To be faithful every day?
No!
No!
Do you want to live till death do us part
To be faithful every day?
No!
No!
You
You have
You have me
You
You have
-You have me
-(SONG CONCLUDES)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
We needed help,
but we didn't try to find it.
I didn't go outside for a long while,
for about two months.
I couldn't take it anymore.
I even considered calling the police,
telling them who I was
and that I wanted to go back to Spain.
But then I had second thoughts.
What will my parents think?
What will they say?
There was no escape.
I'd lost the will to live.
And, suddenly, everything changed.
I was pregnant.
From that moment,
I had someone I had to be strong for,
someone to fight for.
STUDENT ID
ROSA: As a kid,
Patricia always did fine at school.
But ever since my brother died,
she started failing.
ALBERTO: Many people wondered
how we didn't notice
what was happening to her.
-(SCHOOL BELL RINGING)
-ALBERTO: But the thing is,
many of Patricia's changes were caused by
her indoctrination by this guy,
by his molding her as he pleased.
We also liked those changes.
Ironic, isn't it?
TYPING
YOU MUST STUDY AND TRY HARDER.
YES, MY LOVE, BUT IT'S REALLY HARD.
I'LL HELP YOU.
ROSA: It was great, right?
Seeing her get better.
You think she's getting over it,
that she's her old self again.
I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU.
LATELY, I'VE BEEN SEEING A BOY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
ALBERTO: At that time, Patricia was dating
a boy from school.
One day I told her,
"Look, I'll support whatever you choose,
"but I don't like him."
ONLINE
TYPING
ALBERTO: One day she told me
they broke up, which was a relief.
YOU MUST STOP
SEEING HIM IMMEDIATELY.
But it backfired,
because the next guy was bad, very bad.
NOELIA: She always dressed in black,
but she started buying
more colorful clothes.
I was happy about it.
BLACK IS FORBIDDEN, IT'S BAD LUCK.
DRESSING LIKE A DARK BITCH
DAMAGES THE AURA.
OK, MY LOVE. I'LL DO AS YOU SAY.
Yes, there were signs
that we should have noticed. Yes!
You just never think things can go so far.
PRINCE GURDJIEFF
NOELIA: You just can't imagine someone
from the other side of the world
will sneak in one night
through the computer,
and take a relative away from you.
I LOVE YOU, BABY.
I LOVE YOU, MY DEAR.
NOELIA: The problem is the indoctrination
happens so slowly, so subtly.
It's hard to notice what's happening.
SHOULD I STAY IN TOUCH WITH MY FAMILY?
NOELIA: These people, little by little,
take over
with their psychological manipulation,
they win you over without you realizing.
They separate you from the people
who can protect you,
they demonize your environment.
Because it's against the cults' interests
that their follower has loved ones.
TYPING
IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO COME HERE.
NOELIA: Most of us think
it can't happen to us.
It may be hard to believe,
but anyone can be brainwashed
into a cult when they're vulnerable.
It's like an HR department.
Cults need smart people
they can benefit from.
It makes no sense to recruit
a bum or a fool.
You want to recruit someone who makes you
feel powerful if you're the cult leader.
It makes sense to recruit someone smart
who's going through a rough time.
And through you, they'll achieve
the three main pillars of every cult,
money, sex, and power.
MY BIRTHDAY PARTY
WILL BE MY FAREWELL TO THEM.
ALBERTO: Since her uncle's death
we hadn't celebrated any party.
Christmas Eves, birthdays, nothing.
But she really insisted
on having a party for her birthday.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Tell us about that party of yours!
What are we eating?
PATRICIA: (OVER RECORDING)
We'll have potato chips, eggs,
olives, crab sticks.
Drinks will be Coke, beer, and water.
That's it.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Patricia, what's with the apathy?
Have a coffee or something!
-"Eggs omelets" Patricia
-(WOMAN LAUGHING OVER RECORDING)
NOELIA: Oh, my God, wake up!
ALL: (SINGING ON VIDEO)
Happy birthday to you
(CHEERING, APPLAUDING ON VIDEO)
I CAN'T STAND BEING AWAY
FROM YOU ANY LONGER.
MY BABY, I FEEL THE SAME WAY.
ALBERTO: If we hadn't been so distracted,
in my case with work and the exam,
and Rosa with her depression
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
I think it wouldn't have happened.
Because Rosa
she would have noticed.
Our marriage, obviously, suffered.
ALBERTO: We were in a bad place
in our relationship.
We didn't know what to do.
Rosa wasn't well.
She had major depression.
Then, the icing on the cake
was Patricia's disappearance.
That was the last straw.
I considered leaving. I suggested it.
We could go our separate ways,
and see how it went.
The house of cards I'd been building
throughout the years
collapsed in a single puff.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
(BABBLING ON VIDEO)
ALL: (SINGING ON VIDEO)
Happy birthday to you!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
ROSA: I didn't want him to leave.
I loved him.
But
it was a very difficult time for me.
She and I wanted the same thing.
Keep trying, stay together.
The fight went on.
And continue trying to achieve our goal.
Finding Patricia.
365 DAYS WITHOUT PATRICIA
ALBERTO: Many people from our circle
told us to quit
that we should forget about her.
ROSA: Many people actually thought
we were harassing our daughter.
But I didn't care.
ROUND TRIP
MADRID TO LIMA
We had to find her.
(INDISTINCT P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT)
ALBERTO: We couldn't do anything else
from here. The momentum was lost.
We had to go to Peru.
That's what we had to do.
But it was Rosa
who made the biggest sacrifice.
We have another child, and he's here.
We were between a rock and a hard place,
because our girl was missing.
ROSA: I couldn't repeat the same mistake
and lose Aleix like I lost Patricia.
Besides, at his age, he needed guidance,
especially after what happened.
I stayed in Spain with Aleix,
and continued waiting.
From a distance.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
(ON VIDEO) Daddy and the girl.
Hello!
Hello!
-Hello!
-Hello.
-Hello.
-Hello.
And I asked him to please
promise me he'd bring her back.
That he'd come home with our daughter.
And he said he wouldn't come back
until he found her.
(SOBS)
(EXHALES)
As a mother, I never lost hope
of finding my daughter.
ROSA: But reality didn't agree.
Peru is a massive country.
It was like finding
a needle in a haystack.
ALBERTO: It's very difficult.
Coming to a country you don't know,
where you're regarded
as a foreigner, and
and you have to find your daughter.
It's difficult to do it alone.
OLINDA: Whenever we spoke,
I always told Alberto that,
if he ever came here,
the case would get more attention,
even by the police.
Many Peruvian girls just vanish.
Never heard from again.
They just remain missing forever.
Years go by and they're never found.
MAYI: We were running away
from the media and the police.
Seeing a man with three women
and four children
was a bit strange. Very strange, actually.
So, people asked questions.
Obviously, if you're running away,
someone like Patricia was a problem.
She stood out in a crowd quite a bit.
It was evident she was a foreigner.
It wasn't something you could hide,
so, she had to dye her hair.
Cutting it wasn't enough,
she had to dye it black.
Steven started denigrating her.
He treated her poorly.
He treated her badly,
he insulted her, annoyed her.
He once said "I'm thinking
maybe I should just kill her."
That's how he said it.
"What if we kill her?"
Subtitle translation
by Miguel Lerma García
ABDUCTED ONLINE
PREVIOUSLY
ANCHOR 1:
She was only 18 years old.
-abducted by a cult.
-Her parents
are devastated after her disappearance.
-ANCHOR 2: Patricia Aguilar.
-ANCHOR 3: Patricia.
-ANCHOR 4: Patricia.
-ANCHOR 5: Patricia.
I'LL CONTACT YOU.
We were confused.
ROSA: I couldn't just sit by and wait.
I checked every book, every notebook
ALBERTO: Esoteric symbols,
religious symbols, prayers
with instructions for a trip
And that's when I started to suspect
there could be a cult behind all this.
PATRICIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Don't worry about me. I'm happy.
For now, I'm not coming back.
ONLINE
TYPING
PATRICIA: After two years speaking with
him online,he was finally in front of me.
MY LOVE, HOW MANY WIVES WILL YOU HAVE?
I had a new family.
HOW DO I BECOME A RESIDENT?
AN OPTION IS TO GET PREGNAN
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ
SIX MINUTES AGO
ALBERTO: Making Steven's identity public
was a bit of a dangerous move.
At that moment, I got scared.
Steven decided we had to run away.
He told me to call the press
and fix everything.
Until I did, I'd be alone.
My dad was never home.
My mom was addicted to gambling.
I couldn't recognize my own daughter.
PATRICIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Send me 600 euros.
I'll come to the Spanish embassy
so you know I'm okay.
And after that, we'll see.
(OVER RECORDING)
You should all have been more aware
of how much you ignored me
and the family troubles.
You let Mom spend all day
in front of the PC,
doing nothing, no cleaning, no cooking
She neglects Aleix,
won't help him with homework.
And all you do is study and work,
and you ignore her.
You're just letting her go.
It's your fault she's suffering.
Why don't you do something?
It's your fault she's going through that.
You're a terrible father
because of this too.
The family had gone to hell.
548 DAYS
ABDUCTED ONLINE
CHAPTER II
THE TRIP
ALBERTO: I met Rosa when she was 14.
I was 15. It's been a lifetime.
-(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING ON VIDEO)
-(CHURCH BELL RINGING ON VIDEO)
About two years after getting married
ALBERTO AGUILAR
PATRICIA'S FATHER
we decided to have children.
That's when Patricia arrived.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
ALBERTO: (ON VIDEO)
Such a beautiful mommy.
Six years later, we had Aleix,
our second child.
(ROSA LAUGHING ON VIDEO)
ALBERTO: In the early years of marriage,
life pushes you to work
much harder, right?
While being a good father figure at home.
I had to work really hard.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
So, then,
Alberto and I decided I'd stay home.
ROSA POVEDA
PATRICIA'S MOTHER
ROSA: I'd look after our two children.
What does Mom do?
-YOUNG PATRICIA: (ON VIDEO) Mama!
-(LAUGHS)
-Mama!
-ROSA: (ON VIDEO) I couldn't believe.
I had it easier than Rosa.
I was always away
while she was stuck at home.
ROSA: At home, you have to deal
with the kids, you have to say no
Do this, do that
Arguments It's a bit harder.
To be honest,
I didn't look after them much.
I was at work all day.
The bakery took up most of my day.
I also wanted to become a firefighter.
I had to study and work out for the exam.
I didn't have much time
to spend with them.
All that affected our relationship.
Possibly, that caused Patricia to lose
her father figure at home in her teens.
All of that contributed to the situation.
Those weren't good years.
Luckily, we had Rosa's brother, Jose.
He had a soft spot for Patricia.
He loved her so much.
And in those times in which
we couldn't spend enough time with her,
the time we should have,
he was there and helped us out very often.
ROSA: Patricia was really close
to my brother. She relied on him a lot.
Growing up, he was always around.
They spent many hours together.
NOELIA BRU
PATRICIA'S COUSIN
In a way, he was more than an uncle.
He was like an older brother.
He was like a father.
ALBERTO: He was the person that helped her
discover how life worked.
He gave her this kind of
older brother figure,
who took her to new places.
(SCREAMS ON VIDEO)
To me, my uncle Jose was
He was my older brother.
(SIGHS) He was my life,
he meant the world to me.
I couldn't wait for Fridays to come,
so I could go to the movies with him
or to his place,
eat a burger,
or just go anywhere with him.
And he felt the same way
about spending time with me.
ROSA: My brother was always laughing.
In my memories, he's always laughing.
He loved spending time
with the whole family.
Especially at Christmas.
My brother and Christmas
were one and the same.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
(BOTH LAUGH ON VIDEO)
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE DISAPPEARANCE
VINALOPÓ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
ROSA: But Christmas was ruined in 2015.
Since then it was never the same.
My brother got sick when he was 29.
He was diagnosed with a pancreatitis.
Normally you can recover
from this at home,
but he had complications.
And four months later he was gone.
JOSÉ MANUEL POVEDA GUIRAU, 29 YEARS OLD
FROM YOUR PARENTS, SISTER, AND FAMILY
ROSA: I felt empty. I felt
I felt hopeless.
And my brother I couldn't understand.
I couldn't understand why he was gone.
PATRICIA: The last time I saw him
was in his hospital room. He seemed fine.
I mean, he could speak. And I told him,
"When you leave the hospital,
we're going shopping in Madrid."
He loved that.
(BREATHES DEEPLY, SNIFFLES)
I wish I could have kept my promise.
But it wasn't possible.
(SNIFFLES)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
It's what hurts the most.
(SNIFFLES)
I gave him a piece of pink quartz
because I'd read that it helped to heal,
that it absorbed the energy of illnesses.
I put it in his drawer for him,
so it would help him.
It didn't.
(BREATHES DEEPLY, SNIFFLES)
When he died, I dreamed
we were having a family meal.
And he was there.
And I dreamed he gave me a hug
and said goodbye. (EXHALES)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
When he arrived, I said to him,
"I thought you were dead."
And he said, "No, I was just hiding."
(SOBS, SNIFFLES)
(SOBBING)
(CHEERS ON VIDEO)
FEMALE VOICE 1: (ON VIDEO) It's a video!
FEMALE VOICE 2: (ON VIDEO)
Oh, it's a video!
(BOTH LAUGH ON VIDEO)
FEMALE VOICE: (ON VIDEO)
Is this thing recording?
(BOTH LAUGH ON VIDEO)
I'm not over it yet.
And I don't know if I ever will be.
Right now I just live with it.
I do have my happy moments, luckily.
(SNIFFLES) But that hole
it will always be there.
My mother had serious depression,
and she took refuge in front of a screen.
And I felt very lonely.
I just let the days go by. I tried to find
something to keep me distracted,
so I didn't have to think
and to stop ruminating.
Just ways to waste my time.
While I wasted my time,
I didn't think about it.
I didn't suffer so much.
And that didn't hurt.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
I didn't pay as much attention
to my kids anymore.
Or to my husband. Or to anyone.
PATRICIA: I think they never really knew
how much it affected me.
They couldn't even imagine.
To me, death couldn't be the end.
There had to be something after it.
And I wanted to know what it was.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
LIFE AFTER DEATH
IS THERE AN AFTERLIFE?
PATRICIA: That's why I started visiting
esoteric websites and investigating
how I could communicate with the dead
through astral projections.
Some people don't get it.
They just accept, very easily,
that there's nothing after death.
I could never accept it.
When they explained it to me as a child,
I got extremely upset,
I spent the whole night crying.
When that happened,
I needed to know where my uncle was,
if I'd ever be able to see him again.
MY UNCLE HAS JUST PASSED AWAY AND RECENTLY
I SAW A DARK ENTITY IN THE HALLWAY.
WAS IT A COINCIDENCE? WAS IT A DREAM?
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? THANK YOU!
SHARE
ADD ME ON WHATSAPP.
I'LL GUIDE YOU.
NOELIA: Patricia's suffering after
Jose's death changes everything for her.
That's when Patricia looks
for answers online, where she finds people
who tell her what she wants to hear.
TYPING
THEY DON'T DESERVE YOU.
NOELIA: Patricia was a vulnerable
teenager.
She needed to feel like she belonged
to a very close-knit family.
And sometimes, due to life,
this isn't possible.
If you showed affection to her
she'd cling to you,
and tell you everything.
WHEN THE APOCALYPSE ARRIVES,
YOU'LL BE A PRIME MASTER.
NOELIA: He gave her answers,
he spoke to her with affection,
helped her forget.
Every night, they'd speak about esoterism,
or anything she wanted.
IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER
TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU.
I CAN'T BREATHE IN THIS HOUSE ANYMORE.
Steven Manrique fabricated
the perfect reality for Patricia.
To the point he turned her into a robot.
He created two Patricias.
The Patricia who no longer liked
spending time with her family,
and the Patricia
who led a second life with Steven
in which she was an initiated,
a very important person
who would repopulate
the planet when the Apocalypse arrived.
SOON YOU'LL BE HERE,
AND YOU'LL BE A PRIME MASTER.
I CAN'T STOP THINKING
ABOUT HOW JOYFUL WE'LL BE TOGETHER.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH,
I WANT TO GIVE MYSELF TO YOU.
150 DAYS WITHOUT PATRICIA
But she's over 18 now
MALE ANCHOR: Leaving once you're 18,
like this girl,
is different than being kidnapped.
Someone who does interviews on TV and says
she's not in a cult,
it would seem she's not.
"I was never missing."
She says she was always reachable
and that she hadn't gone missing
ALBERTO: The media and the police
lost interest in the case.
We had no choice but to continue
the investigation on our own.
Noelia suggested to use
our fake Facebook account again.
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ
PRINCE GURDJIEFF
HI. A FEW DAYS AGO,
I SAW SOMETHING IN THE HALLWAY.
IT WAS LIKE A BIG, DARK BODY.
WHEN I LOOKED AGAIN,
IT WASN'T THERE ANYMORE.
I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ SENT YOU A MESSAGE.
WHAT COUNTRY ARE YOU FROM?
I'M FROM SPAIN.
HOW OLD ARE YOU?
TELL ME, WHAT THINGS DO YOU LIKE?
NOELIA: I couldn't believe it.
In my own computer screen,
I had the guy who'd abducted my cousin.
ESOTERISM, EGYPTIAN CULTURE
AND OIL PAINTING.
YOU MAY THINK I'M CRAZY,
BUT I SEE THINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN
I'M LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. CAN YOU HELP ME?
NOELIA: At that moment, I thought,
"This could be our only chance.
I can't waste it." I decided to go all in.
I SAW ON YOUR PROFILE THAT YOU KNOW
A LOT ABOUT THESE THINGS.
I'D LIKE TO KNOW YOU BETTER
SO YOU COULD TEACH ME.
DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME YOUR NUMBER,
SO WE CAN SPEAK OVER WHATSAPP?
IT'S MORE PRIVATE.
But it didn't work.
And I was about to find out why.
KAREN, IT'S GREA
YOU'RE INTO OIL PAINTING NOW.
STEVEN MARTÍNEZ HAS BLOCKED YOU.
He caught me. He didn't believe
I was who I said I was.
And he thought I was some Karen.
Who's this Karen?
KAREN, IT'S GREA
YOU'RE INTO OIL PAINTING NOW.
NOELIA: I had to find Karen.
I search through Steven's friends
and I found one Karen.
I'd seen her picture before.
ADD TO FRIENDS
NOELIA: I sent a friend request to Karen
from my Nadia account.
-And then
-(NOTIFICATION CHIMES)
KAREN GARCÍA ACCEPTED YOUR FRIEND REQUES
I THINK YOU KNOW STEVEN MARTÍNEZ.
I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.
I DON'T KNOW YOU
AND I DON'T KNOW ANY STEVEN.
A RELATIVE HAS GONE MISSING,
MY COUSIN PATRICIA.
NOELIA: She didn't want to talk to me.
So, I preferred not to insist too much.
I didn't want to mess up like with Steven.
But suddenly,
something makes her come back.
I WAS IN THE GROUP, BUT I LEFT.
BUT MY SISTER MAYI IS STILL INSIDE.
STEVEN IS A DANGEROUS MAN,
I'M SCARED OF HIM.
I'M SORRY, I CAN'T HELP YOU.
KAREN: (OVER RECORDING) I can't, I
I managed to leave the group,
I changed my number.
We stopped talking.
It was a terrible experience.
I don't want to go through it again.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING) Karen,
this is your opportunity
to save a lot of people.
For your sister, for the ones
who are already there, the future ones
If you don't want to tell your parents
to spare them the suffering, then don't,
just do it by yourself.
But we need you, Karen.
You're the only one
who's been inside and can talk and
Well, I'll keep fighting for them.
All right? If you change your mind,
please let me know. Bye.
I TOLD YOU, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW
ANYTHING ABOUT STEVEN.
BUT MAYBE MY MOM CAN HELP YOU.
HER NAME'S OLINDA.
OLINDA VALVERDE
MAYI'S MOTHER
I never thought about the kind of person
my daughter had married.
MAYI: I was already
very curious as a child.
I always wondered about life, and
I wanted to find different answers.
MAYI GARCÍA
STEVEN'S WIFE
Something to quench
my thirst for knowledge.
SATANISM
MAYI: I got interested in satanism,
Luciferianism
CEREMONY TO WORSHIP LUCIFER
MAYI: I listened to black metal music.
And I'm a bit special about clothes.
They need to be black.
I wasn't close to my parents.
Not enough to speak about these things.
OLINDA: I feel very guilty as a mother
for not being there
for her during her teens.
I focused on work a lot.
We didn't speak so much.
We didn't really know each other.
OLINDA: I feel so guilty for not spending
more time at home, with them.
I abandoned them for work.
So they could have everything
they needed, right?
I was always saying,
"The children are growing up,
"they don't need you anymore."
It's not true.
Their teens is when they need
their parents the most.
SATANIC NETWORK
MAYI: I was 16 years old
when I visited this website
where I read an article published
by someone called Giovanny.
Giovanny Papini
was Félix Steven Manrique Gómez.
We met to engage in alchemy,
that is, sexual intercourse.
After about five months of a relationship,
I got pregnant.
I never wanted to get married,
because our feelings
were all that mattered.
But I got married in the end
because my parents wanted me to.
OLINDA: When she told me she was pregnant,
as a single mother, it was frowned upon.
What would people say?
What would they think?
I always dreamed of a happy wedding,
so she'd have a life better than mine.
But that wedding didn't feel happy.
I felt that man was not what I was hoping
for my daughter.
It was really awful later on.
She left and I never saw her again.
It was difficult for me. Very difficult.
MY DEAR DAUGHTER, WHERE ARE YOU?
I hadn't heard about her for months.
I was fearing the worst.
MOM AND DAD WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU.
WE'RE WORRIED SICK.
OLINDA: Then I got a call
from a Spanish woman.
She explained everything to me in detail.
How it all happened.
What was going on then.
That's when reality hit me.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING) We're still
on time to stop this madness.
We want to join forces with other people
in our situation to fight together.
We'll work as one
and go after this guy together.
We can work together. I can tell you
where I think they are. I can try to
I'll do my best to save not just Patricia,
but the rest of the women as well.
(BREATHES DEEPLY) I felt like I was dying.
It was something
I was not aware of at all.
How could my daughter
end up in this situation?
I (SOBS)
so much pain.
I thought, "Where's my baby girl?"
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
180 DAYS WITHOUT PATRICIA
FEMALE ANCHOR: Patricia Aguilar
was indoctrinated online
by this person when she was 16.
He asked her, when she was still a minor,
to send him sexual videos.
PATRICIA: Since Steven's face was shown
in the media, he got more paranoid.
He told us the ones above
had ordered him to leave Lima.
So, we went to San Martín de Pangoa,
a region about 12 hours by bus from Lima.
It's in the jungle,
and it's a very dangerous zone.
MAYI: We didn't consider ourselves a cult.
It wasn't fair that the media was showing
his face, and also ours, and the kids'.
It was wrong.
We considered ourselves to be a family.
10,000-SOL REWARD
FOR THE LOCATION OF THIS GROUP.
PATRICIA: Since we arrived in Pangoa,
Steven made it very clear,
I wasn't Patricia anymore,
my name was Silvana.
Patricia no longer existed.
The children knew very well
there was no Patricia there.
After a while, we forgot about Patricia.
She was only Silvana.
PASSWORD
DELETE ACCOUN
MAYI: As part of Steven's hiding strategy,
he ordered
Patricia to close her accounts,
Gmail, Facebook, I mean
he ordered everything be deleted.
ARE YOU SURE?
YES
MAYI: It was like making
Patricia's digital version disappear.
ACCOUNT DELETED
PATRICIA: Steven was obsessed
with us not being found.
Apart from changing my name
and having me delete all my accounts
he forced me to get my hair cut.
The new apartment in Pangoa
was deplorable.
Water and electricity cuts,
we could go weeks
without being able to wash,
without any hygiene
We had no money for food.
The little money we could get was spent
on candles, ayahuasca,
and anything needed for the rituals
or anything the ones above ordered.
MAYI: We'd gone from bad to worse.
It wasn't a suitable place to live,
especially with kids.
PATRICIA: Steven, little by little,
as he felt more cornered, as his name
and face got more and more exposure,
he got more and more violent, and
it got to a point
where he got very violent.
He used to beat the children brutally.
He left them with horrible bruises.
For his beatings, he used a chicote,
which is a sort of leather whip
with three tips.
So, it's like you're being hit
with three whips at the same time.
(SNIFFLES) He used to beat the children
with it, and us women as well.
And the children, they could get a beating
just because they touched his stuff,
his books, figurines,
that was enough to beat them.
And Mayi's son used to get it the worst.
He really had it in for that boy.
MAYI: I don't know why
I didn't take my kids and run away.
I don't understand why. I should have.
PATRICIA: One day, the children,
Steven and I were at home
and I couldn't take it anymore.
I said I was leaving.
He told me that, if I left,
he'd take it out on the children.
I couldn't just leave.
I couldn't leave him alone with the kids,
I knew what he could do to them.
-(WHIP LASHING)
-(SNIFFLES)
(KID YELPING)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
You realize that the person
you used to know
isn't the person you're living with now.
He was a different person.
Sometimes he insulted me
and I'd cover my ears.
I didn't want to cry in front of anybody.
Not in front of Paola and Patricia. Yes.
But I still cried, I covered my face
and cried. I couldn't help it.
(CRYING QUIETLY)
I I loved him so deeply.
I felt affection.
I also considered him
a spiritual guide, a master.
So, I justified it all, right?
"No, it was me who provoked him,
because I raised my voice.
"I shouted too, so" I justified it.
We put him before ourselves.
We would have even died for him.
But it reached a point when he asked us
to do things that were just too much.
One time, these girls living next door,
they were very pretty.
There were rumors
that they used to be prostitutes.
And I mentioned that to him. Bad idea.
He said "Those are the witches
I was looking for. They'll help me to
"to make some initiations.
"Speak with them and arrange a meeting."
I just couldn't do it.
They were minors. So, I told him "No."
Steven was furious.
He wanted to sleep with them.
What he was asking was too much.
I couldn't do it.
We got into an argument, we fought.
And when we were in the middle
of the argument,
he grabbed me by the neck.
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
(GAGS)
MAYI: I was running out of air.
And I remember
Patricia's voice saying, "Let her go!"
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
PATRICIA: I saw how Steven's hands
had left marks
in her neck, even his nails.
That's how much he squeezed.
I went to the bathroom
and stayed there for a while, crying
calling for my mom
Just thinking of my mom.
So (SNIFFLES)
It was very hard. (SOBS) I missed them.
(SNIFFLES) But I didn't know what to do.
PATRICIA: I couldn't sleep that night.
I got up from bed and left the room.
I locked Steven in. I needed space.
I needed to get away from it all.
So, I sought comfort in the only thing
that's always made me feel free.
("DU HAST" PLAYING)
Do you want to live till death do us part
To be faithful every day?
No!
No!
Do you want to live till death do us part
To be faithful every day?
No!
No!
You
You have
You have me
You
You have
-You have me
-(SONG CONCLUDES)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
We needed help,
but we didn't try to find it.
I didn't go outside for a long while,
for about two months.
I couldn't take it anymore.
I even considered calling the police,
telling them who I was
and that I wanted to go back to Spain.
But then I had second thoughts.
What will my parents think?
What will they say?
There was no escape.
I'd lost the will to live.
And, suddenly, everything changed.
I was pregnant.
From that moment,
I had someone I had to be strong for,
someone to fight for.
STUDENT ID
ROSA: As a kid,
Patricia always did fine at school.
But ever since my brother died,
she started failing.
ALBERTO: Many people wondered
how we didn't notice
what was happening to her.
-(SCHOOL BELL RINGING)
-ALBERTO: But the thing is,
many of Patricia's changes were caused by
her indoctrination by this guy,
by his molding her as he pleased.
We also liked those changes.
Ironic, isn't it?
TYPING
YOU MUST STUDY AND TRY HARDER.
YES, MY LOVE, BUT IT'S REALLY HARD.
I'LL HELP YOU.
ROSA: It was great, right?
Seeing her get better.
You think she's getting over it,
that she's her old self again.
I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU.
LATELY, I'VE BEEN SEEING A BOY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
ALBERTO: At that time, Patricia was dating
a boy from school.
One day I told her,
"Look, I'll support whatever you choose,
"but I don't like him."
ONLINE
TYPING
ALBERTO: One day she told me
they broke up, which was a relief.
YOU MUST STOP
SEEING HIM IMMEDIATELY.
But it backfired,
because the next guy was bad, very bad.
NOELIA: She always dressed in black,
but she started buying
more colorful clothes.
I was happy about it.
BLACK IS FORBIDDEN, IT'S BAD LUCK.
DRESSING LIKE A DARK BITCH
DAMAGES THE AURA.
OK, MY LOVE. I'LL DO AS YOU SAY.
Yes, there were signs
that we should have noticed. Yes!
You just never think things can go so far.
PRINCE GURDJIEFF
NOELIA: You just can't imagine someone
from the other side of the world
will sneak in one night
through the computer,
and take a relative away from you.
I LOVE YOU, BABY.
I LOVE YOU, MY DEAR.
NOELIA: The problem is the indoctrination
happens so slowly, so subtly.
It's hard to notice what's happening.
SHOULD I STAY IN TOUCH WITH MY FAMILY?
NOELIA: These people, little by little,
take over
with their psychological manipulation,
they win you over without you realizing.
They separate you from the people
who can protect you,
they demonize your environment.
Because it's against the cults' interests
that their follower has loved ones.
TYPING
IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO COME HERE.
NOELIA: Most of us think
it can't happen to us.
It may be hard to believe,
but anyone can be brainwashed
into a cult when they're vulnerable.
It's like an HR department.
Cults need smart people
they can benefit from.
It makes no sense to recruit
a bum or a fool.
You want to recruit someone who makes you
feel powerful if you're the cult leader.
It makes sense to recruit someone smart
who's going through a rough time.
And through you, they'll achieve
the three main pillars of every cult,
money, sex, and power.
MY BIRTHDAY PARTY
WILL BE MY FAREWELL TO THEM.
ALBERTO: Since her uncle's death
we hadn't celebrated any party.
Christmas Eves, birthdays, nothing.
But she really insisted
on having a party for her birthday.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Tell us about that party of yours!
What are we eating?
PATRICIA: (OVER RECORDING)
We'll have potato chips, eggs,
olives, crab sticks.
Drinks will be Coke, beer, and water.
That's it.
NOELIA: (OVER RECORDING)
Patricia, what's with the apathy?
Have a coffee or something!
-"Eggs omelets" Patricia
-(WOMAN LAUGHING OVER RECORDING)
NOELIA: Oh, my God, wake up!
ALL: (SINGING ON VIDEO)
Happy birthday to you
(CHEERING, APPLAUDING ON VIDEO)
I CAN'T STAND BEING AWAY
FROM YOU ANY LONGER.
MY BABY, I FEEL THE SAME WAY.
ALBERTO: If we hadn't been so distracted,
in my case with work and the exam,
and Rosa with her depression
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
I think it wouldn't have happened.
Because Rosa
she would have noticed.
Our marriage, obviously, suffered.
ALBERTO: We were in a bad place
in our relationship.
We didn't know what to do.
Rosa wasn't well.
She had major depression.
Then, the icing on the cake
was Patricia's disappearance.
That was the last straw.
I considered leaving. I suggested it.
We could go our separate ways,
and see how it went.
The house of cards I'd been building
throughout the years
collapsed in a single puff.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
(BABBLING ON VIDEO)
ALL: (SINGING ON VIDEO)
Happy birthday to you!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON VIDEO)
ROSA: I didn't want him to leave.
I loved him.
But
it was a very difficult time for me.
She and I wanted the same thing.
Keep trying, stay together.
The fight went on.
And continue trying to achieve our goal.
Finding Patricia.
365 DAYS WITHOUT PATRICIA
ALBERTO: Many people from our circle
told us to quit
that we should forget about her.
ROSA: Many people actually thought
we were harassing our daughter.
But I didn't care.
ROUND TRIP
MADRID TO LIMA
We had to find her.
(INDISTINCT P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT)
ALBERTO: We couldn't do anything else
from here. The momentum was lost.
We had to go to Peru.
That's what we had to do.
But it was Rosa
who made the biggest sacrifice.
We have another child, and he's here.
We were between a rock and a hard place,
because our girl was missing.
ROSA: I couldn't repeat the same mistake
and lose Aleix like I lost Patricia.
Besides, at his age, he needed guidance,
especially after what happened.
I stayed in Spain with Aleix,
and continued waiting.
From a distance.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
(ON VIDEO) Daddy and the girl.
Hello!
Hello!
-Hello!
-Hello.
-Hello.
-Hello.
And I asked him to please
promise me he'd bring her back.
That he'd come home with our daughter.
And he said he wouldn't come back
until he found her.
(SOBS)
(EXHALES)
As a mother, I never lost hope
of finding my daughter.
ROSA: But reality didn't agree.
Peru is a massive country.
It was like finding
a needle in a haystack.
ALBERTO: It's very difficult.
Coming to a country you don't know,
where you're regarded
as a foreigner, and
and you have to find your daughter.
It's difficult to do it alone.
OLINDA: Whenever we spoke,
I always told Alberto that,
if he ever came here,
the case would get more attention,
even by the police.
Many Peruvian girls just vanish.
Never heard from again.
They just remain missing forever.
Years go by and they're never found.
MAYI: We were running away
from the media and the police.
Seeing a man with three women
and four children
was a bit strange. Very strange, actually.
So, people asked questions.
Obviously, if you're running away,
someone like Patricia was a problem.
She stood out in a crowd quite a bit.
It was evident she was a foreigner.
It wasn't something you could hide,
so, she had to dye her hair.
Cutting it wasn't enough,
she had to dye it black.
Steven started denigrating her.
He treated her poorly.
He treated her badly,
he insulted her, annoyed her.
He once said "I'm thinking
maybe I should just kill her."
That's how he said it.
"What if we kill her?"
Subtitle translation
by Miguel Lerma García