The experience as a navigator of the father of the disappeared girls, the movement of a large amount of money the day before, and his comings and goings in a pleasure boat, all feed theories that sound like something out of a movie; as the, so far unsuccessful search of the coastline, is extended to the southwest of Tenerife
An escape by sea after swapping his pleasure boat for another bigger vessel, is the most bizarre and complicated hypothesis of all those that are considered feasible to explain what Tomás Gimeno could have done with his two daughters, after last being seen by their paternal grandparents at approximately 7.30pm last Tuesday.
Such a theory is not only still on the investigators' table six days after the girls disappeared, but it seems to have now become the preferred alternative for those who do not give in to pessimism. The Guardia Civil have pressed the accelerator to, once and for all, find something more concrete than mere indications for this theory, or otherwise, discard it and focus on the rest of the potential options.
There are several reasons why, almost a week later, the idea of the sailboat remains alive, starting with the mysterious comings and goings in the Santa Cruz Marina during the night of last Tuesday. Yesterday it was learned that Tomás had been in said Marina that afternoon checking that his boat, a six metre long speed boat with a small cabin, was in seaworthy condition, as the port captain revealed yesterday.
The Guardia Civil has been able to certify that Tomás made a transfer of almost 55,000 euros from one of his bank accounts to another just the day before disappearing. Sources close to the investigation said last night that today, Monday, they will get confirmation from the financial institution in question, to verify whether Tomás withdrew this amount of money in cash or not.
As is already known, he returned there at approximately 9:30pm being recorded alone while he put some packages on board (presumably with clothes inside), and then set sail without a known destination, returning to the marina to exit the port by car an buy a battery charger for a mobile phone and tobacco, before definitively leaving the port of Santa Cruz after midnight.
The speed boat was found the next day, adrift and empty, in front of the Puertito de Güímar on the east coast of the island. In it, a trace of blood was detected, which is still pending analysis, and the anchor was missing. Also found floating near the site was a child seat, which has been confirmed to be owned by the family.
Subsequently, researchers have discovered that Tomás was able to withdraw a significant amount of money days before (Monday), and that his friends and acquaintances consider him capable of trying to carry out such a convoluted plan and that it requires at least one accomplice to assist him. That he is an experienced navigator is verified, and he told the mother of the girls several times that he was going away and that he was taking the girls with him.
The sailing boat theory starts to wane when studying what its destination would be. The option of Morocco or Mauritania on the West African coast doesn’t seem likely, as a single man with two blonde and foreign girls would attract a lot of attention in those countries.
If Cape Verde were chosen, experts say that the journey would take between eight and nine days (although sea conditions have been good), and there are now agents waiting there. If he had headed to La Palma, where he has spent time before, he would have arrived in little more than half a day, and finally, there is the option of America, but crossing the Atlantic with two girls who require uninterrupted attention is not easy.
SEARCH CONTINUES IN SOUTH OF TENERIFE:
Meanwhile, the search along the Tenerife coastline continues without giving any further results, despite the remarkable deployment of air and maritime teams, At first they searched they coastline and sea bed from Anaga to Puertito de Güímar, which was extended to the South and even to the southeast and the rest of the islands of this province. These search tasks moved yesterday to the west of Tenerife and to areas further away from the coast, according to sources of the investigation.
