Córdoba scientist Alejandro Fracaroli, 44 years old, has been missing for over a month in Germany, where he was on an academic stay in Karlsruhe. His family and colleagues reported his absence after losing contact on October 13, when he had his last communication via video call. The Argentine scientific community is following the search efforts with growing concern.
His partner, Gabriela Furlan, said that the conversation with Fracaroli was completely normal, but that same night she stopped receiving his messages. The following day, local authorities were notified and the international search protocol was activated. Since then, the Argentine consulate in Frankfurt and the Argentine embassy in Germany have been involved.
"A search request was activated from the Argentine consulate to the German authorities," Furlan explained, who is the mother of the researcher's two children. Fracaroli had traveled to Karlsruhe in September 2023 to work on a research line in nanotechnology. His work was carried out at the prestigious Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Su familia y colegas denunciaron su ausencia luego de perder contacto el 13 de octubre
Progress and testimonies regarding the disappearance
His colleagues were the ones who noticed his absence after realizing that he did not attend the institute and that his phone remained off for more than 20 hours. Since then, German police have been conducting an investigation that still has no concrete results. A source close to the case confirmed that "there are no updates at this time."
Fracaroli is a renowned professor and researcher at the Department of Organic Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences at the UNC and at Infiqc-Conicet. He also collaborated with Omar Yaghi, recent winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His disappearance has caused shock among his colleagues and former students, who remain alert to updates.
Mónica Balzarini, director of Conicet Córdoba, stated that the entire scientific community "is on alert" because of the case. "There is no clue or information about how and why he disappeared," she said. The researcher's brother traveled to Karlsruhe this Thursday; meanwhile, his son, also a scientist, is actively collaborating in the search.
German authorities confirmed that there are no records of the Córdoba native in hospitals or police stations in the area. In addition, the reviewed security cameras did not yield any relevant clues. For any information regarding the whereabouts of Alejandro Fracaroli, please contact the international numbers +34 634 64 10 75 or +49 15560587656.
