Murder of Eva Blanco
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On 20 April 1997, Eva Blanco Puig, a Spanish high school student was murdered in Algete, Madrid. The case remained unsolved for over a decade, gaining significant media attention in Spain and is popularly known as the Eva Blanco Case (Caso Eva Blanco), the Crime of Algete (Crimen de Algete) or Operation Gang (Operación Pandilla), the code name given to the investigation by the Spanish Civil Guard.
Background information – victim | |
---|---|
Born | Eva Blanco Puig (1981-02-17)17 February 1981 Madrid, Spain |
Died | 20 April 1997(1997-04-20) (aged 16) Algete, Spain |
Case information | |
Attack type | Stabbing, sexual assault |
Cause of death | Exsanguination caused by multiple stab wounds |
Funeral | Asunción de Nuestra Señora, Algete, Spain |
Arrested | Ahmed Chelh Gerj (1 October 2015) |
Convicted | None; case closed after Chelh's suicide on 29 January 2016 |
In 2013, new advancements in genealogical DNA research led to the determination that the suspect had North African origins. Hundreds of people with North African origins that had lived in the Algete community subsequently contributed their DNA profile to help the investigative effort; one of the donors showed a sibling-level match with the perpetrator, and further investigations eventually led to the arrest of Ahmed Chelh Gerj, a Moroccan-Spanish citizen who had lived in Algete with his brother in 1997.
Chelh committed suicide in prison in 2016, and the case was closed.