Kata’s disappearance, the four lines of investigation followed by the Prosecutor’s Office

Two days from first anniversary of Kata’s disappearance (Mia Kataleya Chicclo Alvarez), the 5-year-old girl of Peruvian origin whose traces were lost from the former Astor hotel in Florence on the afternoon of 10 June 2023, the chief prosecutor of Florence, Filippo Spiezia, retraced, in a conference press, the major leads that the Prosecutor’s Office is following as it is an investigation – never interrupted – “highly complex” and «aggravated by the fact that the news of the disappearance arrived with a time gap compared to the disappearance, but also because we believe based on the elements collected that it is the result of the implementation of a plan that was well organized in detailand not an extemporaneous activity.”

The work of the investigators, explained Spiezia, «is continuing on several tracks, and the difference compared to the initial phase is that our work is more selective with respect to the hypotheses taken into consideration»: «Not only did we continue to cultivate possible new leads, but we also proceeded with a rereading material investigative and informative documents collected in the first phase of the investigation are still in progress, because evidently with a greater familiarity of names, faces, sounds and voices of people it is now possible to enhance detailed aspects compared to a first phase of investigation”.

The investigative leads

There are four investigative paths: drug trafficking, room racket at the former Astor hotel (the structure was illegally occupied at the time by many people, including Kata and her family. Based on this lead, the girl’s maternal uncle, Abel Alvarez Vazquez, was arrested), exchange of person (with another little girl, daughter of an individual implicated in a drug trafficking affair), possible sexual abuse.

The “hole” in the observation of the cameras

Kata was last seen in the courtyard of the occupied former hotel on the afternoon of June 10. The surveillance cameras in via Boccherini record her at 3.01pm and then, for the last time, at 3.13pm. The chief prosecutor of Florence explained that there is «confirmation that the network of video cameras surrounding the Astor hotel had a hole from observation of video cameras and we have reason to believe that that hole was exploited by whoever kidnapped the little girl».

The two suspects

At the moment there are two suspects, “but there are no elements to decline the position of these two subjects.” I am the two uncles, the maternal one, Abel Argenis Vasquez, and the paternal one, Marlon Chicclo. They had custody of the child that day, a Saturday, while her mother, Katherine Alvarez Vasquez, was out at work and her father, Manuel Romero Chicclo, was detained in Sollicciano.

Non-cooperative attitudes

Prosecutor Spiezia also highlighted that the two communities involved, the Peruvian and the Romanian, because they were present in the former Astor hotel, «were characterized by non-collaborative attitudes, and we moved in a picture that is also silent» and «the investigations also developed on an international level, having contacts with both Romanian and Peruvian authorities». Spiezia anticipates that «the developments of the matter could happen shortly but they will depend on the point we make with respect to the other consultations we will have with those who investigate with us and we have set an appointment at the beginning of the summer».