On September 20, seven people were arrested at their respective homes by a patrol of civilians and Carabineros officers:

Desiderio AGUILERA SOLIS, 42 years old, agricultural worker.

Miguel CUEVAS PINCHEIRA, 41 years old, shoemaker and militant of the Partido Socialista.

José Mariano GODOY ACUÑA, 25 years old, agricultural worker and leader of the union at the Fundo El Huache settlement.

José Domingo GODOY ACUÑA, 20 years old, agricultural worker and leader of the settlement's union.

José Nazario GODOY ACUÑA, 22 years old, agricultural worker and leader of the settlement's union.

Julio César GODOY GODOY, 56 years old, agricultural worker and member of the settlement's union.

Manuel SALAMANCA MELLA, 38 years old, livestock trader.

At the Santa Bárbara Carabineros unit, family members were informed that the detainees had been transferred to the Los Angeles Regiment. According to statements provided to this Commission, the detainees were killed and thrown into the waters of the Bío Bío River from the bridge that crosses Quilaco. However, since their arrest, their whereabouts and fate remain unknown.

In direct relation to these events and following complaints from the families, a judicial process was initiated before the Military Prosecutor's Office of Los Angeles, case file 25 73. This case established that in the days following September 11, 1973, a "patrol" operated in Santa Bárbara, formed by carabineros from Santa Bárbara and civilians called upon to collaborate with the police forces.

This force was referred to as "voluntary collaboration with Carabineros de Chile." The Prosecutor's Office ultimately sentenced the defendants to 180 days of minor imprisonment in its minimum degree, to one as the perpetrator of the crime of carrying a firearm without a permit and conducting legal acts regarding said weapons without competent authorization; and to the other to 61 days of minor imprisonment in its minimum degree as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal carrying of a firearm, without remission of the sentence.

On May 18, 1979, the Commander-in-Chief of the III Division of the Ejército definitively dismissed the charges against the defendants. The Military Prosecutor's Office did not issue a ruling regarding the disappearance of the individuals.

The Commission, based on the aforementioned background, the collective nature of the situation, what is inferred from the mentioned judicial process, and the repeated occurrence of similar cases in the province, has formed the conviction that the disappearance and probable death of these seven people constituted a grave violation of human rights for which agents of the State and the civilians who acted in conjunction with them are responsible.