The Mystery of the Torca de Topinoria
In the lush landscapes of the Picos de Europa National Park, amidst the verdant hills and rugged terrain, a story unfolds that has captivated the minds of the locals and the world alike. It is a tale of two lost souls, separated by time and circumstances, but united in their resting place at the bottom of a treacherous pit cave known as Torca de Topinoria.
Eloy Campillo Pérez
Eloy Campillo Pérez was a respected man, the mayor of Sotres, a small town in the heart of the national park. He had a loving family, but as fate would have it, the darkness of Spain’s Civil War would cast a long shadow over their lives. On a fateful night in April 1945, Eloy disappeared, leaving behind his wife and a two-year-old daughter, Mercedes. For years, they searched in vain for Eloy, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air.
The Discovery
Fast forward to the summer of 2018, when a team of intrepid spelunkers ventured into the depths of the Torca de Topinoria cave. The entrance was a treacherous, narrow crack, easily missed and considered a danger to hikers. Their mission was noble, to uncover the remains of those who had gone missing during the civil war and the Francoist Regime. Eloy’s case was among those they sought to solve.
The cave led to a vast, vertical shaft that plunged 180 meters (590 feet) down to a muddy bottom filled with debris. Here, they discovered human bones that would eventually be identified as Eloy Campillo Pérez. After 73 long years, his remains were finally found, and his daughter Mercedes, now 75, was given the news she had been waiting for her entire life.
The Second Set of Bones
But the story doesn’t end there. As the spelunkers continued their search within the cave, they stumbled upon a baffling mystery. Among the debris and scattered remains of Eloy, they found bones that could not possibly belong to him. Whose remains were these? And how did they end up in the same final resting place as Eloy Campillo Pérez?
The team worked diligently to retrieve the remains of this second individual. Little by little, they uncovered more bones and, through careful analysis, determined that they belonged to a young female, aged between 10 and 14 years old at the time of her death. But the timeline of her demise revealed a perplexing twist: she had perished between 1950 and 1960, which meant that Eloy had already been dead for at least five years when she met her end at the bottom of the pit cave.
Uncovering the Mystery
How did this young girl end up here? What was her connection to Eloy, if any? The investigators delved deeper into her story, piecing together fragments of her life. Forensic anthropology expert Dr. Fernando Serrulla found that her diet, rich in fish and animal protein, suggested she was likely from a coastal region. However, she had suffered from chronic malnutrition, a common affliction among the working-class families in post-war Spain.
Her DNA profile painted a vivid picture of her appearance: a prepubescent girl, standing between 4’6″ and 4’10”, with fair skin, green or honey-like eyes, and dark brown hair. Despite the detailed description, no one in the local community seemed to remember a girl fitting her profile going missing.
The closest lead the investigators found was the existence of small settlements of outsiders, who had migrated to the area in search of better opportunities. They lived in makeshift sheds and shacks on the hillsides near the national park, away from the established towns. It was believed that the unknown girl might have belonged to one of these families of settlers, and her disappearance had never been reported to the authorities.
With no relatives found in the Fénix Database, the investigators turned to international DNA databases, including the FBI’s CODIS in the United States. Yet again, their search yielded no results. The cause of the girl’s death remained uncertain as well. Although she had sustained a head injury around the time of her death, her other bones did not show signs of high-energy impact, suggesting that her death might not have been accidental.
The Legacy
As of June 2022, the identity of the unknown girl remains shrouded in mystery. However, her story has captured the imagination of the world and brought attention to the plight of those who went missing during the tumultuous years of the civil war and the Francoist Regime.
Eloy Campillo’s remains were eventually laid to rest in the cemetery of Sotres, the town he once served as mayor. His daughter Mercedes graciously offered a burial plot next to her father for the unknown girl, stating, “After they’ve been so many years together down in the cave, it wouldn’t be fair to part them now.”
Their story, filled with intrigue and unanswered questions, serves as a poignant reminder of the lives lost and the families torn apart by the ravages of war and political turmoil. And while the identity of the unknown girl may never be discovered, her tale will forever be intertwined with that of Eloy Campillo, two souls bound together by the depths of the Torca de Topinoria.
Deep Lore 