Overview
- The investigating judge returned the case to the Valladolid Provincial Court to set an oral trial with a popular jury, naming Óscar S. as the only defendant.
- Guardia Civil reports from the April 16–17 search of a hidden cellar at his former home found no biological remains or DNA of López, and those findings were added to the case file.
- The cellar came to light when the property’s new owner uncovered a trapdoor during renovation work, triggering a fresh, 15‑hour inspection by forensic teams including ECIO officers, criminalistics staff, and GEAS divers who pumped water and collected swabs and soil.
- Óscar S. will face charges of murder or, failing that, homicide, along with offenses of degrading treatment, unlawful detention, and failure to render assistance, and he has not been held in pretrial detention.
- López vanished in January 2022 and was found 23 days later in a roadside ditch, and prosecutors and the private accusation have already sought an 18‑year sentence while the defense asks for acquittal for lack of proof.