My heart burns: Twelve years without Malén — The gap in the system

My heart burns: Twelve years without Malén — The gap in the system

On December 2, 2013, then-15-year-old Malén Ortiz disappeared in the municipality of Calvià. Twelve years later her mother, Natalia Rodríguez, still sits in Santa Ponça trying to keep the search alive out of love. The facts are sparse: date, age, place — and the open question why a case can remain unsolved for so long.

Key question

Why has the search for Malén been going on for more than a decade, even though relatives repeatedly report tips and there are concrete locations that have been checked?

Critical analysis

On Mallorca, between La Pinada and the promenade in Santa Ponça, the image of a missing girl hangs on posters and in people's minds. Yet investigative work seems sluggish: long-open cases suffer not only from time, but from staffing, prioritization and often from patchy coordination. When relatives report that only two officers are handling a case, it is a warning sign. Complex missing-person cases need more than sporadic inquiries — they need permanent evidence preservation, regular reviews of new leads and access to specialized forensic resources.

The family has repeatedly pushed for the involvement of specialized criminal investigation units. Such units bring experience that often makes the difference in cold cases. At the same time, occasional excavations or second checks show that investigators are not inactive — but for relatives it often remains unclear whether every action is systematically documented and traceable. And secrecy alone does not always explain the lack of transparency toward families.

What's missing in public discourse

We talk about numbers, investigations, results — but hardly about structural gaps: no binding protocols for the long-term handling of cold cases, no guaranteed minimum resources at island level, unclear communication obligations toward families. Also underexposed: psychological care for relatives, financial support for private search efforts and a central, publicly accessible database for missing persons at the regional level.

Everyday scene from Santa Ponça

On Sunday La Pinada lies quiet: the smell of pine mingles with the sea, children practice on their bikes, older people feed pigeons on the promenade. Between deckchairs and umbrellas the poster with the girl's smiling face remains fixed, the edges weathered but the image unchanged. A mother with dyed hair stops, runs her hand over the poster as if trying to hold back time — then walks on. This is what the island looks like on days when some things keep on hurting.

Concrete solutions

1. Set up a permanent cold-case unit for the Balearic Islands: clearly defined capacities, regular case reviews, access to forensic labs and a case manager for each family. 2. Obligation to minimum information for relatives: regular, comprehensible updates, no months of radio silence. 3. Standardized protocols for ground and field searches, including external oversight and clear documentation of search results. 4. Expansion of a regional missing persons registry with publicly accessible, data-protection-compliant information and a hotline for tips. 5. Financially secured psychosocial support for relatives and the possibility to consult independent experts. 6. Promotion of DNA databases for unsolved cases, coupled with legal safeguards to protect the rights of those affected.

What authorities and society can do

Authorities must provide resources deliberately and work transparently. Society can help by taking tips seriously and not treating reports as sensation stories but as potential keys to solving. Schools like IES Calvià, places like La Pinada and entire neighborhoods can be networks that preserve memories while collecting new leads.

Concise conclusion

Malén is not just a file number; she represents the many unanswered questions that remain when a person disappears. Mistakes can be identified and, at least partly, fixed: more staff, better coordination, binding information obligations and real support for families. If we mean this seriously, empathy must turn into a plan. Until then a mother faces daily waiting — and we have the duty to make the gap in the system visible.