Federal court merges Loan Peña cases, sets preliminary hearing for February 2026

The Federal Oral Court of Corrientes Province has ordered the consolidation of the two files relating to the unsolved disappearance of five-year-old Loan Danilo Peña and scheduled the case’s first preliminary hearing for next February. 

The court resolved to merge files FCT 2157/2024/TO1 and FCT 2157/2024/TO2 after recognising their legal connectedness, bringing the proceedings into a single case. The ruling paves the way for 17 defendants to face a federal oral trial after more than a year of procedural disputes.

The decision follows months of filings by several defence teams, including motions for nullification, challenges to federal jurisdiction and other presentations aimed at delaying or suspending the process. 

María Belén Russo Cornara, counsel for the prosecution, confirmed to local media Tuesday that a first preliminary hearing will take place at 9.30am on February 27, 2026. 

During the hearings, the court will address defence motions, establish admissible evidence and confirm the list of witnesses. The prosecution is preparing a list that could exceed 700 prospective witnesses, though the number may be reduced.

Loan disappeared on June 13, 2024 while picking oranges near his grandmother’s home close to the town of Nueve de Julio, near the district of Goya, Corrientes Province. 

The youngster had travelled out to the countryside with family members before sharing a lunch at his grandmother’s home. It was his first time visiting the home.

After lunch, Loan went off walking to an orange grove with three adults and three other children. During the excursion, the boy vanished. 

Despite extensive searches, he has not been found.

Defendants

Seven defendants are charged with the abduction and concealment of Loan: Laudelina Peña, the boy’s aunt; Bernardino Antonio Benítez, Loan's uncle; former municipal official María Victoria Caillava and her husband, retired Navy officer Carlos Guido Pérez; Daniel Oscar 'Fierrito' Ramírez and his partner, Mónica del Carmen Millapi; and Police Commissioner Walter Adrián Maciel. 

Another 10 defendants face charges including interference with witness statements, obstruction of the investigation and defrauding the state.

With the consolidation ruling, the case will proceed under Article 146 of the Argentine Penal Code, which addresses the abduction of a minor under the age of 10. 

The court also reaffirmed federal jurisdiction after rejecting a recent defence request to return the case to provincial courts. Legal representatives for the accused had called for its rollback on the grounds that the human-trafficking hypothesis had not been proven.

The developments come more than 17 months after the child’s shocking disappearance in the town of 9 de Julio, located in the west of Corrientes Province. 

The boy’s parents, María and José, have continued to press for progress in both the investigation and the prosecution. A number of demonstrations have taken place to demand answers about the boy’s mysterious disappearance.

Trafficking fears

Loan’s shocking disappearance drew global attention, with Pope Francis mentioning Loan's disappearance during a general audience in January 2025, just a few months before the Catholic leader’s death.

The late Argentine pontiff voiced concerns over the possibility that Loan was abducted for organ-trafficking, stating: “Some come back with a scar, others die. That's why today I want to remember this boy, Loan.”

This week’s court ruling brings the case into a more structured phase ahead of the oral proceedings. The trial will involve the public presentation of evidence and testimony before the court for the first time since the investigation began.

Regarding searches and efforts to locate the boy or his body that have been conducted since mid-November, Cornara said that the private prosecution “has full confidence in what is being done and how it is being done.”

“For the moment nothing has turned up, which is both good and bad at the same time, but it helps us rule out certain hypotheses,” she told the Noticias Argentinas news agency.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL