An eight-year-old girl who was found barely alive in an Argentine forest revealed the identity of her rapist and murderer moments before she died.
Fabiana Sirino had disappeared while returning home from school in the town of 25 de Mayo, in the province of Misiones, Argentina, on Friday, November 15.
Her worried parents and other relatives began the search for the missing girl, and it was her older sister, aged 11, who finally found her seriously injured about 200 meters from her home, in a wooded area.
Fabiana’s parents told local media Crónica that their eldest daughter ‘saw her (Fabiana) lying there and ran away shouting: ‘Dad, run! Fabiana is dead!”
The young woman, who had been brutally raped and had at least 13 stab wounds, was still alive when her parents reached her and rushed her to the hospital.
According to her unidentified father, Fabiana revealed that family neighbor Marcelo Daniel Muller, 34, nicknamed Nanico, was her attacker.
“Nanico did that to me,” Fabiana allegedly whispered to her father as she headed to the hospital.
He also tearfully told his parents: ‘Look at me, I’m going to die.’ My heart hurts’ as he took his last breath.
Fabiana Sirino, 8, poses in an undated photograph. She was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Marcelo Daniel Muller, 34 years old, alias ‘Nanico’, in Misiones, Argentina, on Friday, November 15, 2024.
In the photo appears Marcelo Daniel Muller, 34 years old, alias “Nanico”, undated. He allegedly raped and killed eight-year-old Fabiana Sirino
Muller has since been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody.
According to the girl’s heartbroken mother, also anonymous, she had spoken to Muller the day before the incident and told her she wanted to sell her her machete and a flashlight.
Muller also appeared at the scene, shortly after the rape, supposedly to help find Fabiana.
His father said: ‘He came running. He was shirtless, wearing shorts and black sneakers, all sweaty. He asked me what had happened.
Neighbors also told authorities they had seen Muller hanging around the girl’s school in recent days.
According to the autopsy, Fabiana’s main cause of death was ‘hypovolemic shock’, caused by severe blood loss.
Fabiana’s school is only 2 kilometers from her house.
She would reportedly walk part of the way home with her cousins and the last leg of the trip would be alone.
Fabiana managed to identify her attacker moments before dying
Her mother tearfully told local media: “She was a very loving girl, with her whole life ahead of her.”
And he added: ‘I have no words to explain how there are such evil people in this world, to do so much harm to a girl who is only eight years old.
‘We want justice to be done. And that we take care of the other children, so that this does not happen again.’
Forensic experts, a biochemist, a police doctor and staff from the local police station worked at the place where the victim was found.
The investigation is ongoing.
On Saturday, Fabiana’s loved ones gathered in front of the local police station to demand justice for the little girl, according to Infobae.
Meanwhile, Argentines have taken to social media to condemn the horrific act.
An X user wrote: ‘Fabiana Sirino was 8 years old. They raped and murdered her!!!!! 8 YEARS! Why did the son of a bitch do it? Because yes, because I wanted to, because I could.’
Others tweeted: ‘Justice for Fabiana Sirino.’
Fabiana’s murder is the latest case of femicide to shake Argentina.
Earlier this month, Sofia Delgado, 20, was reported missing after she did not return home from a shopping trip in the city of San Lorenzo.
On Friday his remains were found in a bag on the side of the road. So far, five people have been arrested in connection with his murder.
Femicide is a serious problem in Argentina and throughout the Latin American region, according to the United Nations.
The Women’s Office of the Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina says that a woman is murdered every 32 hours.