Casepin
Back to cases

Case file

Disappearance of Tehuel de la Torre

SOLVED2021San Vicente / Alejandro Korn, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 39
Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 39 — Credit: TitiNicola · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tehuel de la Torre, born 26 March 1999, was an Argentine trans man living in San Vicente, Buenos Aires, with his mother, partner, her son, and his brother. He had begun his gender transition a few months before he disappeared. On 11 March 2021, he left home to travel to Alejandro Korn to meet Luis Alberto Ramos, a 37-year-old man he had met through Workers' Socialist Movement rallies, who had offered him work as a waiter at a birthday party. He arrived earlier than the scheduled 19:00 interview. The last signal from his mobile phone was recorded at 00:24 on 12 March from Ramos's address. His family reported him missing on 13 March, after his girlfriend, Michelle, initially had difficulty filing a report at the San Vicente police station.

Police geolocated De la Torre's phone at Ramos's home, and a raid on 16 March recovered a destroyed phone and clothing belonging to him, along with blood samples. Ramos was arrested on 23 March after shaving his head and deleting his phone's contents; he declined to make a statement. A friend of Ramos, Oscar Alfredo Montes, was detained on 27 March and initially charged with concealment and false testimony. A photograph recovered from Montes's phone showed De la Torre with both men on the day of his disappearance. Searches for De la Torre's body were conducted through 2021 and 2022 at lagoons, waste-management properties, and other sites, without locating his remains. A bloodstain matching De la Torre was found in Ramos's home in September 2021, and in November 2021 prosecutors changed the charge against both men to aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity.

The case was committed to oral trial in March 2022 on charges of homicide aggravated by hatred of gender identity. In 2023, the family campaigned to move the trial date forward, and it was rescheduled to July 2024. In mid-2024, the court split the proceedings into two separate trials after Montes's new defence requested a jury trial rather than a bench trial. Ramos stood trial alone before the Oral Criminal Court No. 2 of La Plata from 15 to 26 July 2024. Witnesses, including De la Torre's mother, girlfriend, sister, forensic experts, and psychologists, testified over multiple hearings; forensic genetics testimony confirmed a blood stain in Ramos's home matched De la Torre with 99.9% certainty. Both the prosecution and the family's legal representation sought a life sentence, while Ramos's defence sought acquittal, citing lack of definitive evidence and raising alternative theories, including that De la Torre might still be alive.

On 30 August 2024, the court found Ramos guilty as co-perpetrator of homicide aggravated by hatred of gender identity and of causing the disappearance of De la Torre's body, sentencing him to life imprisonment. Montes's separate jury trial had not been scheduled as of the reporting period covered. De la Torre's body has not been found. The case became a focal point for Argentina's LGBT and trans-rights movements, prompting marches, a reward fund, and sustained activist and governmental attention.

Key facts

Victims
Tehuel de la Torre
Date
2021
Location
San Vicente / Alejandro Korn, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1999-03-26

    Tehuel de la Torre is born.

  2. 2021-03-11

    De la Torre leaves home in San Vicente to meet Luis Alberto Ramos in Alejandro Korn about a waiter job; last phone signal recorded from Ramos's address at 00:24 the next day.

  3. 2021-03-13

    Family reports De la Torre missing to police; his phone is geolocated at Ramos's home.

  4. 2021-03-16

    Raid on Ramos's house recovers a destroyed phone and clothing belonging to De la Torre; blood samples collected.

  5. 2021-03-23

    Luis Alberto Ramos is arrested in Dock Sud after shaving his head and deleting his phone's contents; he refuses to make a statement.

  6. 2021-03-27

    Oscar Alfredo Montes is detained and charged with concealment and false testimony.

  7. 2021-09-10

    A bloodstain belonging to De la Torre is found on a wall in Ramos's house.

  8. 2021-11-09

    Ramos and Montes are charged with aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity.

  9. 2022-03-12

    Case is committed to oral trial for aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity.

  10. 2023-05-29

    Tehuel's mother launches a campaign demanding the trial date be moved forward.

  11. 2023-07-14

    Oral Criminal Court No. 2 of La Plata brings the trial forward to July 2024.

  12. 2024-06

    Court splits the case into two separate trials after Montes's defence requests a jury trial.

  13. 2024-07-15

    Trial of Luis Alberto Ramos begins at Oral Criminal Court No. 2 of La Plata.

  14. 2024-07-26

    Closing arguments concluded; prosecution and complaint request life sentence for Ramos, defence requests acquittal.

  15. 2024-08-30

    Court sentences Luis Alberto Ramos to life imprisonment for aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity and for causing the disappearance of the body.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Oscar Alfredo Montes

    CHARGED

    Charged with aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity in connection with Tehuel de la Torre's disappearance; awaiting a separate jury trial as of the reporting period.

  • Tehuel de la Torre

    VICTIM

    Argentine trans man who disappeared on 11 March 2021; his body has not been found.

  • Luis Alberto Ramos

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in August 2024 of aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity and of causing the disappearance of Tehuel de la Torre's body; sentenced to life imprisonment.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Archival records

  • Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 39

    archival location

    Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 39

    Credit: TitiNicola · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

  • Flyer Oficial Tehuel 2022

    wanted poster

    Flyer Oficial Tehuel 2022

    Credit: Argentina.gob.ar · CC BY 4.0 · Source

  • Frederic padre y hermana Tehuel

    unclassified

    Frederic padre y hermana Tehuel

    Credit: Argentina.gob.ar · CC BY 4.0 · Source

  • Galería Tehuel

    other document

    Galería Tehuel

    Credit: Argentina.gob.ar (Gobierno de Argentina) · CC BY 4.0 · Source

  • Marcha tehuel 2

    archival location

    Marcha tehuel 2

    Credit: Argentina.gob.ar · CC BY 4.0 · Source

  • Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 11

    archival location

    Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 11

    Credit: TitiNicola · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

  • Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 14

    unclassified

    Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 14

    Credit: TitiNicola · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

  • Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 01

    archival location

    Banderazo trans archivo de la memoria trans 2021 titi nicola periodicas Santa Fe; Argentina 01

    Credit: TitiNicola · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

  • Marcha tehuel 1

    archival location

    Marcha tehuel 1

    Credit: Argentina.gob.ar · CC BY 4.0 · Source

Places

San Vicente / Alejandro Korn, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

-35.0333, -58.4167

View on the map

Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Tehuel de la Torre, a 21-year-old Argentine trans man, disappeared on 11 March 2021 after leaving his home in San Vicente, Buenos Aires, to meet a man who had offered him work as a waiter. His body has never been found. Luis Alberto Ramos was convicted of aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024; a co-accused, Oscar Alfredo Montes, faces a separate jury trial.
Where did the disappearance happen?
San Vicente / Alejandro Korn, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
Who was convicted?
Luis Alberto Ramos (Convicted in August 2024 of aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity and of causing the disappearance of Tehuel de la Torre's body; sentenced to life imprisonment.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in Argentina

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICDisappearance of Tehuel de la TorreWikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The Washington PostThe Washington Post · 2026-07-07
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — agenciapresentes.orgagenciapresentes.org · 2026-07-07

Record history

First published
JUL 07, 2026
Last verified against sources
JUL 07, 2026