Disappearance Cirunstances

On the 4th March 1998, after lunch Rui Pedro took his bicycle and, around 2 o'clock p.m he went to his mother's office, which is in front of their house, to ask her for permission to go on a drive with a 22 year-old "friend" named Afonso. His mother refused and told him to play with his bicycle in an uncultivated ground, just behind her office (this ground isn't a passage path and sometimes horse race took place there). In the afternoon, around 5 p.m, Rui Pedro's private teacher phoned his parents because he was feeling surprised by Rui’s delay (this was not normal). Immediately his parents started to look for him. During their search, they found out that a neighbour had found his bicycle around 3 p.m. It was hidden in the wood in that horse track where Rui Pedro was seen riding his bicycle. As Rui Pedro had set a meeting with Afonso, we tried to find out about Afonso's stopping-place. Later on Afonso was found and he was asked if he had seen Rui Pedro. Afonso replied "no" in a very calm way. Later we knew that this man was seen in the same place talking to Rui Pedro. This man was in a black Fiat Uno, which was of his brother. Now, it was in this very same place where the bicycle was found. Strangely Afonso's brother borrowed him his car, so he would do the regular car's check-up, but later on we found out in his testemony that this wasn't true. Afonso just drove around incertain places and with no definite destiny.
On that day, GNR (our local police) inquired him and helped us on the search. They witnessed when the child's grandfather (my father) desperately asked Afonso where Rui Pedro was. My father offered him anything he wanted just for the answer. But Afonso replied crying that he didn't know anything but if we did want to find Rui Pedro the frontiers should be closed, as Rui Pedro could be far away, abroad. And soon, confronted by a witness -André, Rui Pedro's cousin- who told the conversation that Afonso had with him and with my godson. Afonso had stopping him from talking. Afonso has thretened him. Even so André told us that Afonso had invited them to go (in is car) to the prostitutes and the meeting-point would be in "Quinta da Costilha". He also told Afonso that he had missed the appointment because his mother didn't allow him to leave home. Meanwhile, and during the night we phoned everyone and everywhere. Together, the family joined with the GNR (who took trained dogs), the Firemen and the people of Lousada searched the village looking for Rui Pedro. During the dawn, I went to the Police Headquarters asking for help, because everything was telling us that Rui Pedro was kidnapped and I was told that the Police couldn't do anything. They told me that I would have to ask the judicial district judge to get in touch with the local authorities so we could find out what type of crime this was and only the judge could consider this a kidnapping and only in this case they could interfere. I explained what had happened and implored them to come and act as soon as possible, because on the following day it could be too late. We continued the search and on the next day after the court's Judge's approval to have the police´s intervention. During the afternoon many policemen of "Polícia Judiciária" came to the village. On the following days we looked together in the wood, in the neighbourhood, springs, lakes, etc..., hoping that Rui Pedro had fallen somewhere. Never, until today, they took into consideration that Rui Pedro had been kidnapped! However, we received thousands of phone calls, in which people would say that they had captured Rui Pedro or that they would know where Rui Pedro was. We even were asked for a randsom. We also got a phone call in which a child only could call for the mother and the connection was cut. The telephone was taken away from the child. Then, the very same person hanged up. None of these phone calls were traced, even though, the judge has ordered that our phones should be under surveillance, as our lingered laws demand.
And everytime we asked them if they had followed any clue, they would ask us how could they have done it, if they even hadn't heard these people, nothing could be done in order to know who was calling, as we answered that there are ways to do it, they told us that it was only in the movies.
How can we expect such an answer, if the present situation is real?! How can we understand that the Police Officer answer us that he doesn't have the slightest idea where Rui Pedro might be?!
Revolted with all this bureaucracy, negligence and lack of ways with which we deal in a case of a child's kinappind. And it is also revolting the reason why I am complaining, even though I don't fell I have the right to say that I am demaged, because my pain is so small compared with the one that this child is going through.

ANY Information about the whereabouts of RUI PEDRO PLEASE Contact Us!

- TEL. +351 22 422 74 80
- MAIL: cteixeira@candidosilva.com