"The wound of not seeing you grow": Sofía Herrera turns 18 and her mother dedicated an emotional message to her

"You opened your eyes to the world, vivacious. Always so cheerful, awake, happy. Every night together to sleep. 3 years and 8 months like this." Thus began the emotional story of María Elena Delgado, the mother of Sofía Herrera on the day she turns 18. The young woman has been missing since September 2008, when she was last seen at a campsite in Río Grande, in Ushuaia.

Only 3 years and 8 months could the woman be accompanied by her daughter. From 2008 until now the cause of her disappearance remains a mystery. This December 30, Sofia turns 18 and her mother posted a moving message on her Facebook account where she remembered that day of her birth.

"I couldn't wait and you didn't want to go out. You were there hidden in my belly, little girl, so close to me. You opened your eyes to the world, vivacious. Always so cheerful, awake, happy. Every night together to sleep. 3 years and 8 months like this", began the publication that was accompanied by two photos.

One of the images shows the ultrasound when Sofia was still in her mother's belly, while another portrays the digital illustration that simulates what her daughter would look like today.

Delgado said that on her daughter's 18th birthday, she is very aware of the first day of her life, and that this coexists with the "so latent wound in my heart of not seeing you grow."

"I think about that every day, that you were there hidden in my belly, so small and so close to me... Happy 18th Birthday Sofi", closes the text that reached more than three thousand reactions in a matter of hours.

In September of this year, on the 14th anniversary of the girl's disappearance, Delgado led the usual reminder act in Río Grande that for the first time did not take place at the intersection of San Martín and Belgrano streets in the city center .

On this occasion, it was held in a square located between Pellegrini, Cabo de Hornos and Cambaceres streets, in the Chacra II neighborhood, very close to where the family lives. In addition to María Elena, Fabián Herrera, the father of the girl, and a group of relatives and friends.

The actor Facundo Arana spread a message that day asking not to abandon the search, similar to what Ricardo Darín and other public figures did in other years.

Sofía's mother insisted during these months that the Fuegian Justice must carry out a DNA study on a young woman from San Juan of the same current age and with a great physical resemblance to her daughter.

However, the investigating judge 1 of Río Grande, Daniel Cesari Hernández, in charge of the investigation, affirmed that the genetic test is not necessary because both the documentation added to the file and different test measures ordered since last March "rule out"  Let it be Sofia.

María Elena also met in Buenos Aires with relatives of other disappeared children, such as Bruno Gentiletti's mother, Guadalupe Lucero's (disappeared in San Luis) and Marcela López (from Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz).

Sofía was three years old when she disappeared on September 28, 2008 while leaving with her parents and friends to spend a leisurely Sunday at the John Goodall campsite, located 59 kilometers south of Río Grande.

María Elena, her husband Fabián Herrera, and Sofía stopped at a supermarket to buy food and then at a service station, where they met Noemí Elizabeth “Paloma” Ramírez and Silvio Giménez, who in turn were with their two-and-year-old children. nine years. Paloma's brother, Néstor, six years old, was also there.

The group arrived at the campsite —located at kilometer 2,893 of National Route 3— in two cars that were parked near the road. The place, a desert area, is a 15-hectare rectangle fenced with a meter-high wire and six threads, the first with barbed wires. Around 11 that day, the parents began to call Sofía, who had moved away a bit, but the girl did not respond. They never saw her again.

There were always suspicions about a man, but over the years, the investigation into the cause was diluted until in 2017 judge Césari Hernández gave it a new impetus.

This is how it was learned that Dagoberto Díaz Águila, a "nomadic" who crosses between Argentina and Chile through illegal passages, had starred in two events that earned him a file with his photo in Court No. 2 of Río Grande. October 2016, when he went up to a National Radio antenna to ask for "home and work". However, there was no progress to find Sofía. 

The case became an icon of the disappearance of people in the country, which led to the preparation of an emergency protocol for similar situations (called Alerta Sofía) and led the national authorities to put into operation an exclusive telephone line to collect data. (08002227634) in addition to the website www.sofiaherrera.com.ar.

In September of this year, on the 14th anniversary of the girl's disappearance, Delgado led the usual reminder act in Río Grande that for the first time did not take place at the intersection of San Martín and Belgrano streets in the city center .