Missing Spaniard: death by flood – a life of homelessness!

Missing Spaniard: death by flood – a life of homelessness!

A tragic and bizarre story has come to a surprising end after more than 40 years. Miguel Morales Molina, who disappeared in Dúrcal, Andalusia in 1984, has been missing since then and was officially declared dead following a court case in 2016. But fate had it differently: a devastating storm that hit the Valencia region on October 29, 2024 revealed his body in a flooded orange grove in November. According to information from El Pais His identity was confirmed beyond doubt by fingerprints, which enabled him to tragically return to his family's life posthumously.

Miguel, 34, disappeared during a marital war marked by drug abuse and domestic violence. His wife, Maria Montserrat, had filed for divorce shortly before his disappearance because Miguel often abused her and their two daughters. Sources from oe24 report that Miguel lived for years on the streets of Valencia, undocumented and incommunicado, while his family lived in uncertainty. His daughters, Jessica and Sara, were too young to remember their father and had given up hope of seeing him again.

A tragic and lengthy process

Despite years of uncertainty, the family began a process to officially declare her death in 2009. After a lengthy legal process that took another six years, Miguel was declared dead in 2016 - unbelievable at the time he was actually alive. However, he was eventually discovered by a local farmer due to the catastrophic weather conditions that claimed several lives. The report said the police investigation concluded he died of “asphyxic drowning in muddy water.” His discovery did not heal his family's wounds, but rather exposed the tragedies hidden behind long-standing missing person cases. The sisters are now faced with the fact that their father, whom they believed to be dead, has tragically died, and they must arrange for the repatriation of his remains, which will now be divided between them.