Boris Weisfeiler disappeared while hiking, Pinochet’s government claimed he ‘drowned’.
A Chilean judge ordered the arrest Tuesday of eight former Pinochet-era policemen and soldiers for the disappearance of American professor Boris Weisfeiler, who disappeared in 1985 on a solo hiking trip in the Chilean Andes.
Judge Jorge Zepeda charged the eight men with aggravated kidnapping, but not with murder as the case is still shrouded in doubt and uncertainty.
The Russian-born Jewish mathematician, with no political links to Chile, went missing on a hiking trip to Southern Chile in 1985 when Chile was ruled by dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
In this era, more than 3,000 cases of “forced disappearances” were recorded. Weisfeiler was the only American citizen to be declared missing, however, and the case was never solved (two American journalists, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, were killed in the days after Pinochet’s coup).
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A Chilean judge ordered the arrest Tuesday of eight former Pinochet-era policemen and soldiers for the disappearance of American professor Boris Weisfeiler, who disappeared in 1985 on a solo hiking trip in the Chilean Andes.
Judge Jorge Zepeda charged the eight men with aggravated kidnapping, but not with murder as the case is still shrouded in doubt and uncertainty.The Russian-born Jewish mathematician, with no political links to Chile, went missing on a hiking trip to Southern Chile in 1985 when Chile was ruled by dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
In this era, more than 3,000 cases of “forced disappearances” were recorded. Weisfeiler was the only American citizen to be declared missing, however, and the case was never solved (two American journalists, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, were killed in the days after Pinochet’s coup).
Login to read more.
About the writer
Miles Coleman
Miles was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and, despite moving to London at a young age, still supports the Springboks over England. He is currently in his third year of undergraduate studies at Bristol University, doing Spanish and Portuguese. As well as writing for the Santiago Times he also writes for Erudition Online in the UK, as well as occasionally contributing to The Guardian Online. He is currently on his year abroad in Chile, practicing being a journalist. He once scored a 30 yard volley in a practice football game for the Badock B Team. Manchester United are said to be interested in his services.
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