"Is it possible that someone used this crevice as a hiding place?" one of the technicians asked.
—Or that someone found Julián and Clara —Morel replied—. And didn't report it.
The descent became more difficult from that point. The crevice widened to one side, forming an irregular cavity. Shining a light on the area, they saw what appeared to be a small makeshift camp: remnants of a thermal blanket, an empty can, a short rope, and, at the bottom, a partially soaked notebook.
Morel opened it carefully. Many pages were illegible, but some words were distinguishable: “doesn’t go up,” “wait,” “wound,” “we hear voices.” There were no names, but the handwriting seemed to be Julián’s.
The most disturbing sentence appeared on a middle page:
“I can’t move. She must stay…”
The sentence ended there, cut off, as if Julián had abruptly stopped writing.
"Something serious has happened here," Morel said. "Julian was wounded, and Clara was still alive."
The most likely hypothesis was that they had been trapped after a partial fall. But something crucial was missing: none of the bodies were there. And given the depth of the cave, it was unlikely they could have gotten out on their own without leaving a trace.
While exploring the cave, one of the rescuers found markings on the wall: three vertical lines repeated several times, like a rudimentary code, possibly used to count days.
"There are at least thirty brands," he reported.
Thirty days. A month trapped.
Media pressure increased, and the police expanded the search area. For the first time, a theory emerged that had previously seemed unthinkable: that another person was involved.
And that theory was reinforced when, at the end of the day, a rescuer found a modern and relatively new rope, which belonged neither to Julián, nor to Clara, nor to the teams working in the area.
"Someone was here," Morel said, looking at the mountain as if it could answer him.
But the mountain remained silent.
What they found the next day, however, would speak for her.
The third day of the search proved crucial. The exploration expanded to the upper part of the crevice, where the rock formed a kind of vertical corridor filled with ledges and small platforms. According to experts, a person could have moved through there with difficulty… but not a nine-year-old girl alone.
Twenty meters from the cave, they found evidence of recent human activity: light footprints, as if someone had climbed up on their toes. The strange thing was that they seemed too recent to correspond to the time of the disappearance.
The key came when one of the rescuers found a star-shaped metal pendant among loose stones. The family immediately confirmed it belonged to Clara. It was her favorite amulet, the one she had worn since she was five years old.
But the biggest surprise came three hours later.
On a natural ledge, half-hidden among dry bushes, they found a metal first-aid kit, rusted at the edges but clearly placed there intentionally. Inside were bandages, remnants of medication… and a note carefully folded inside a plastic bag.
Morel opened the note. The shaky handwriting left no doubt:
“If anyone finds this, please help her. It wasn’t her fault. He came back, but he wasn’t the same. We couldn’t get down. We tried to call for help. If Clara is alive… please take care of her.”
Signed: JH
The message sowed confusion. “He came back”? Who was this “he”?
The family clarified a chilling detail: weeks before disappearing, Julián had had conflicts with a man named Aitor, a former expedition partner who had publicly accused him of appropriating a joint photography project. The end of their friendship was abrupt and bitter.
The gendarmerie reopened a parallel investigation into Aitor. It turned out he had been in the Pyrenees during the days of the disappearance… but he had never confessed.
Meanwhile, the teams found a natural exit at the top of the crevice, a narrow passage leading to a wooded area far from the main trail. There, under layers of leaves, they found traces of a rudimentary camp, apparently used years ago: remains of a campfire, a rusty knife, and several food wrappers.
Among the items found was something devastating: a small shoe, identified as Clara's, along with remnants of her clothing. There were no bones, meaning the girl could have left that spot alive.
"This changes everything," Morel said. "They were here, but they moved. And not alone."
The final investigation revealed that Aitor had been seen in the area by local shepherds. One of the strongest hypotheses suggested that he encountered Julián and Clara after the accident. Instead of helping immediately, he tried to resolve his personal conflict with Julián, demanding explanations at a critical moment. The argument may have escalated, leading to a forced separation between the adults and leaving Clara completely vulnerable.
See continues on the next page
