The arrival of a specialist team from Madrid and the use of dogs and excavators last week raised expectations that a development in the case of Malén Ortiz would be confirmed. The Guardia Civil didn't offer any details about new avenues of investigation, and after some days of intense activity at the Sa Porrassa finca in Magalluf the search came to an end - with no new news.
Fifteen-year-old Malén disappeared on December 2, 2013. Despite the search at the finca, near to where she was last seen, it would appear that investigators believe that her kidnapping was fortuitous and that she willingly got into a vehicle belonging to someone she knew.
It has been concluded that Malén wasn't forced into a car because no one saw or heard anything. At the time, there was in fact a Calvia police car stationed close by; there was no struggle in the middle of the street.
The investigators' main profile is that of a man aged between 30 and 40. Of people who were questioned in the weeks and months after Malén's disappearance, the man described as a one-time Hollywood agent, 75-year-old José Antonio R.M., is not among the main suspects.
The Guardia are understood to be tracing some 300 vehicles that passed through the area of her disappearance during what was a short window of time - no more than ten minutes. These vehicles were recorded, but special software has been needed to reconstruct the number plates - one by one. These vehicles are felt to hold the key.