New York – A person in the United States has reportedly revealed that Rolandito Salas Jusino, the boy who disappeared 25 years ago while playing in a park in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, is alive somewhere in the northeast.
Rolando Salas, Rolandito’s father, said in an interview on El Poder del Pueblo on TeleOnce that the person who went to the authorities with information about the missing person worked with the missing person.
At the moment, both the Puerto Rican Police and Interpol and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) are following up on leads that include photos of the person who is believed to be Rolandito.
The agents intend to carry out a DNA test on the individual. However, the authorities pointed out that every time they think they have found the whereabouts of the person, he flees or disappears.
According to the information that the authorities have, the person who could be Rolandito left work just when the investigation began following the tip-off, and moved to another state. The father of the missing man said that the person he believes to be his son worked there for 10 years.
Salas said there is a high percentage that the person is Rolandito.
“I feel that there is a high probability that it is my son. I saw his nose, a mark that he has…yes, there is a high probability that it is my son,” she said on the television program.
“My father’s heart has no doubt that Rolandito is alive; my heart has no doubt. As to whether he is this person, well, I don’t know, because 25 years have passed and there have been some changes. I don’t want to get carried away, because it’s been 25 years, and this has happened many times. And that makes one stronger,” he added.
Authorities refocused the investigation at the beginning of the year based on new clues. However, the investigation into the disappearance of the Puerto Rican was never closed at the Criminal Investigation Corps (CIC) in Bayamón.
Most of the information about Rolandito’s whereabouts comes from the diaspora
Private investigator Fernando Fernandez, who worked on the case at the request of Rolandito’s family, told the same television station that most of the leads that have reached the authorities over the years come from the United States.
“Many times they are people who live in the diaspora who remember this case, who have it very active, and they call, and give information about people who may have some kind of resemblance,” indicated the so-called “Investigator of investigators” also on TeleOnce but on the program En la mañana.
Although authorities have not wanted to specify where Rolandito might be at the moment, Fernandez mentioned the city of Boston, in Massachusetts, in the northeast of the United States.
Alleged recent images of Rolandito
The information handled by the authorities includes alleged images of Rolandito. The person who appears in the photos that were shown to the missing man’s parents has physical characteristics very similar to those of Rolandito, comparing her with the last available photo of him.
Among these, a birthmark on the left hand is repeatedly mentioned in reports.
“The truth is, the person has many traits compatible with my child… The police gave this tip to Interpol a month ago. They (Interpol) have been working for a month and we see that they have taken action…”, described Rolandito’s father in another interview on El Pique de Falú on Telemundo.
Part of what is known about Rolandito’s disappearance in 1999
Rolandito disappeared on July 7, 1999, when he was 4 years old. The minor was playing in the park of the Colinas del Plata housing estate, in Toa Alta, where he lived with his mother.
The stepfather of the minor Roberto Gotay Valcárcel has been publicly named as a suspect, but his involvement in the kidnapping has never been proven.
The fact that there is no body or Rolandito could still be alive makes it more difficult to prosecute Gotay Valcárcel, who in 2014 was charged in Florida with shoplifting.
Currently, Rolandito would be 29 years old.
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