Mossos appeal to find man who allegedly killed his two-year-old son

BarcelonaThe Mossos d'Esquadra have appealed for citizen collaboration to find the man who allegedly murdered his two-year-old son in a hotel in Barcelona. In an unusual gesture, police have released a photograph of Martin Ezequiel Alvarez Giaccio, a 44-year-old resident of Vendrell, described as a man 1.78 meters tall and with an athletic build, with brown eyes and now has a trimmed beard and shaved hair. The man has been wanted since Tuesday night, when the boy appeared unconscious in the room of the Hotel Concòrdia, on the Paral·lel of the Catalan capital, in the Poble-sec neighbourhood. The images of the hotel establishment captured the escape of Alvarez jumping the fence of the pool. Since then they have lost track of him, and the search operation has been extended to Catalonia.

The alert that something serious could have happened was given on Tuesday at about 10 pm by the mother of the child. According to Cadena SER, Alvarez took the child and later sent her a message, from whom he had separated, threatening that she would regret it. The woman called the police and the worst predictions were fulfilled.

When a few minutes after the call the Guardia Urbana and the Sistema de Emergències Mèdiques (SEM) arrived at the hotel, the boy, aged two years and nine months, was unconscious and with a purple face with obvious signs of suffocation. Nothing could be done to save his life.

The police immediately started an operation to try to find him. This Wednesday, some helicopters have joined the search, and have flown over the nearby areas in the hotel. The lack of clues has made the Mossos ask for judicial permission to spread the photograph and personal shots of the suspect. The duty court that has taken charge of the case has ordered the secrecy of the proceedings.

In a video made public by La Vanguardia, it can be seen how he jumps the fence that connects the hotel's swimming pool with the outside and climbs a small wall before disappearing. Some media have claimed that he fled in the direction of Montjuïc. At the time, he was wearing jeans, red sneakers and a grey T-shirt.

The authorities have publicly condemned the alleged murder. The deputy mayor for Feminisms and LGTBI and accidental mayor of Barcelona, Laura Pérez, explained that the council is providing psychosocial support and accompaniment to the child's mother and is following the case closely, and the Department of Equality and Feminisms has expressed its regret at the crime and explained that it is at the disposal of the municipal government to activate the protocols necessary to support the family. "We will ensure the privacy of the child's family", they added in a tweet. Barcelona City Council has called for a minute's silence at 7pm in Plaça Sant Jaume to condemn the alleged murder.