On April 14, 1979, in the quiet town of Banes in Holguín, a 9-year-old girl named Amarilis Muñiz Navarrete left her home to buy bread... and never returned.
That short walk—less than 100 meters from her house—became an abyss that remains open more than four decades later.
Her disappearance not only changed the course of a tightly-knit family, but also became a painful symbol of the institutional silence surrounding the violence that has historically plagued women and girls in Cuba.
A Normal Day That Turned to Tragedy
That April Saturday was just another day at the Muñiz Navarrete household. Mayda, one of Amarilis's sisters, was waiting to take a bath; Margarita, eight months pregnant, was resting in a rocking chair.
No one could have imagined that when Amarilis left with her friends Rosita and two other girls to get bread with their ration book, she would never come back. Her friends returned home without her.
They couldn't explain where Amarilis had gone, whether she had strayed from the path or if someone had taken her. No one in the street, the bakery, or the neighborhood—where everyone knew each other—saw her. She simply vanished.
"On a day like today, April 14, our youngest sister Amarilis was taken from our home. We lived in Banes, Holguín, Cuba. We still don't know what happened, where she is, or who the monster was that did it," her sister wrote in a Facebook post in 2019, the wound still fresh.
An Endless Search and No Answers
From the very beginning, the family launched a frantic search. Neighbors, friends, and even people from nearby areas joined in. A blackout that hit Banes at 6:30 p.m. added literal and symbolic darkness to the tragedy, but did not extinguish hope.
In the days that followed, fields, riverbanks, and mountainous areas were searched. Photos were distributed across Cuba. The desperation was overwhelming.
"They searched beyond the neighborhood, questioned the girls who returned, went past the river, and combed the entire area, but found nothing: not a trace of the girl," a recent article by Mónica Olivera published by the Observatorio de Género Alas Tensas recounts.
Meanwhile, Margarita went into premature labor that very night. She gave birth to a boy, forever linking his birth to the most devastating moment of their lives.
Official Silence and Institutional Indifference
The Policía Nacional Revolucionaria issued a note requesting help to locate the girl. However, no real or effective search protocol was ever implemented. The family was labeled "disaffected" due to their political views, which seemed to be enough reason for the institutions to abandon any commitment to truth or justice.
"The case was closed for lack of evidence," they were told.
The Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC), supposedly responsible for protecting the rights of women and girls, never supported the family, not even with a word of comfort.
The family continued their search on their own, even resorting to spiritualists, psychics, and healers. Nothing worked.
The Pain Without Closure
Decades later, the memories remain as vivid as that first day. There is no grave where flowers can be laid. There is no certainty. And without a body, there is no closure. Physical disappearance is a cruel form of violence that prevents emotional healing. It is a wound without edges.
"Between heaven and earth, nothing is hidden. Someday the truth will come out and justice will be served," commented a neighbor in the 2019 post.
The memory is not just limited to the family. An entire community remains marked.
"The town of Banes came to a standstill; we were all out on the streets," another eyewitness wrote about that day.
"My daughter was almost 4 years old and was traumatized for a long time," shared a mother.
Amarilis's disappearance shattered the collective peace of a small town where no one imagined such an event could occur. But it did.
False Leads and Shattered Hopes
Over the years, episodes arose that renewed the family's hope—and also their suffering. A dying baker, in a state of delirium, claimed to know where the girl's body was. The family dug in the specified location and found nothing. The man died days later.
Another call, decades later, claimed that Amarilis had returned with a group of Germans and was staying at the Hotel Pasacaballos. The family traveled there. Once again, nothing. Just smoke.
A Life Cut Short
Amarilis would have turned 55 on November 21. Her story remains frozen at age nine. Each birthday, her family gathers to pray, sing hymns, and renew their hope.
In the digital age, they have tried to extend their search further. Yet the results remain the same: none.
Exposing the "Perfect" Country's Dark Side
Amarilis's case reveals a truth that the official Cuban narrative tries to conceal: violence against women and girls exists and has always existed, with or without neoliberalism, with or without the current crisis.
This is evidenced by the impunity with which the case was closed, the lack of protocols, the inaction of institutions, and the media silence. All of this is also violence.
"Physical disappearance is classified among cases of violence against women... when there is never an answer as to where the frail, tender body of a girl might have gone, even after decades, the pain and trauma endure," notes the text from Alas Tensas.
Discussing Amarilis's case is not just about reliving a tragic past. It is about making visible that justice remains absent, and above all, remembering that as long as a disappearance remains unresolved, so does the wound.
Unresolved Mysteries Surrounding Amarilis's Disappearance
What happened to Amarilis Muñiz Navarrete?
Amarilis Muñiz Navarrete disappeared on April 14, 1979, in Banes, Holguín, Cuba. Despite extensive searches and investigations, her whereabouts remain unknown.
How did the community of Banes react to Amarilis's disappearance?
The community of Banes was deeply affected by Amarilis's disappearance, with many residents participating in the search effort and being emotionally impacted by the event.
Was there any official investigation into Amarilis's disappearance?
While the Policía Nacional Revolucionaria issued a note seeking help, no effective search protocol was implemented, and the case was eventually closed due to a lack of evidence, leaving the family without closure.