Luis Alberto del Carmen Araneda Reyes, married, father of 4, railway engine driver, union leader, and Socialist Party militant, reported to his workplace at the San Rosendo Engine House on September 15, 1973.

As his services were not required, he returned home around 15:30. At the precise moment he arrived at his home and had barely crossed the front yard, a Carabineros patrol commanded by Lieutenant Alberto Fernández Mitchel and Sergeant Pedro Rodríguez Ceballos—and including, among others, officers Juan Oviedo, Florencia Olivares, and another surnamed Otárola—proceeded to surround the house and arrest Mr.

Luis Araneda. All the apprehending officers belonged to the Laja Station, except for Corporal Castillo, who was attached to the San Rosendo Station and was accompanying the Laja contingent on that occasion to locate the addresses and identify the individuals to be arrested, who were listed on a document carried by the patrol.

Luis Alberto managed to hand his watch and the money he was carrying to his wife and was immediately taken to the San Rosendo Station. From there, he was taken on foot, bound together with five other detainees, to the Laja Station. Among those were Juan Acuña, Dagoberto Garfias, Mario Jara, and Oscar Sanhueza, all of whom suffered the same fate as the victim.

While detained at the Laja Station, Luis Alberto Araneda was visited by his spouse, Ruth Medina, his brother-in-law, Ricardo Medina, and his son, Jaime. On the night of September 16, due to a heart condition Araneda Reyes suffered from, he had to be taken out to the courtyard three times to get air.

Likewise, due to the stressful situation he was experiencing, an ulcer condition he suffered from became complicated. The following day, September 17, his brother-in-law brought him milk and medication to treat both conditions, which were not accepted by the police personnel, who argued that the detainee was to be transferred to Los Angeles.

On the 18th, when his spouse went to visit Luis Alberto at his place of detention, she was informed that he, like the rest of the detainees, had been transferred to Los Angeles—a city where none of the detainees ever arrived.

All of the prisoners—Juan Acuña Concha, Manuel Becerra Avello, Rubén Campos López, Dagoberto Garfias Gatica, Fernando Grandón Gálvez, Jack Gutiérrez Rodríguez, José Jara Herrera, Mario Jara Jara, Jorge Lamana Abarzúa, Alfonso Macaya Barrales, Heraldo Muñoz Muñoz, Wuilzon Muñoz Rodríguez, Federico Riquelme Concha, Luis Sáez Espinoza, Oscar Sanhueza Contreras, Luis Ulloa Valenzuela, Raúl Urra Parada, Juan Villarroel Espinoza, and Jorge Zorrilla Rubio—were executed by their captors at the San Juan estate located between Laja and Yumbel and buried clandestinely in the same place.

After the burial was discovered by locals, Carabineros from Yumbel transferred them to the local cemetery. Their families searched for them for more than 6 years, and it was not until 1979 that his body was returned to his family, who gave him a proper burial.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On April 13, 1977, once all family inquiries and efforts to locate Araneda had been exhausted, his spouse filed a writ of amparo on behalf of Luis Alberto del Carmen Reyes before the Concepción Court of Appeals, which was registered under No. 3970.

This amparo was rejected on June 2, 1977, on the grounds that "from the information gathered, it appears that he is not being detained, nor has an arrest warrant been issued against him."

Along with rejecting the writ of amparo, the Court ordered the initiation of the respective summary proceedings. Thus, on July 26, 1977, Case No. 22,799 was opened in the Yumbel Court of Letters regarding the presumed disappearance of Luis Alberto del Carmen Araneda Reyes.

The proceedings were dismissed on January 18, 1978, based solely on the statement of Sergio Castillo Basaul, who was implicated in the victim's arrest, without the victim's whereabouts or fate being established.

Despite the above, on July 24, 1979, a criminal complaint, file No. 2770, was filed before the Laja Court of Letters for the crimes of "kidnapping and homicide of Fernando Grandón and others," including Luis Alberto del Carmen Araneda Reyes, against Lieutenant Juan Alberto Fernández Mitchel and Sergeant Pedro Rodríguez Ceballos—who later became part of the CNI in Los Angeles—and other officers who served at the Laja Carabineros Station as of September 1973; it was ordered that case No. 50,777 be kept in view.

As a result of this complaint, Mr. José Martínez Gaensly was appointed as a Visiting Judge. Through his investigation, he was able to establish that Luis Alberto del Carmen Araneda Reyes was executed along with 19 other detainees at the San Juan estate, located about 200 meters from the road connecting the town of Laja with the city of Los Angeles.

The bodies were illegally exhumed by the perpetrators themselves (Carabineros from the Laja Station). Subsequently, they were clandestinely transferred to the Yumbel Cemetery by Carabineros officers from that city.

This occurred despite the fact that the discovery of the bodies had been duly reported by the Yumbel Carabineros to the judge of the Major Quantities Court of Letters of that same city, who ordered the court secretary to keep the police report in the safe without initiating due process.

On October 2, 1979, the remains of 19 of the 20 people for whom their detention and subsequent disappearance had been reported were exhumed at the Yumbel Cemetery. After some investigative steps, body No. 20 was found at the same site of the homicide, on the San Juan estate.

On November 27, 1979, the remains were handed over to their families, and the funerals were held that same day. On March 18, 1980, the Visiting Judge declared his incompetence and ordered the records to be sent to the Military Justice system, where they were registered under No. 323 80 in the Ad Hoc Military Prosecutor's Office of Concepción.

The case was definitively dismissed on June 9, 1980, by the Judge of the 3rd Military Court, and the ruling was approved by the Supreme Court on December 3, 1981. Those responsible for the crimes of kidnapping and homicide were granted amnesty based on Decree Law 2191 of 1978.

Source: (Corporation Report)