What happened
Julio Pérez Silva targeted girls and women around Alto Hospicio and Iquique during a period in which families were repeatedly told some missing teenagers had simply run away.
The investigation
A surviving victim and later discoveries in abandoned mine shafts transformed the investigation and connected multiple disappearances to one offender.
What the courts or investigators concluded
Pérez Silva was convicted of fourteen murders, sexual assaults and an attempted murder and received a qualified life sentence.
Why the case remains significant
The case is remembered not only for the scale of the crimes but for institutional failures that delayed recognition that vulnerable young women were being targeted.
Case context
Crime by Region organizes cases geographically so readers can move from one file to other investigations from the same country. For unresolved or contested cases, the wording above reflects the distinction between confirmed events, investigative theories and findings actually established in court.