MIAMI – Eight years after Liliana Moreno and her daughter, Daniela, vanished without a trace, the child’s father is in custody.
Gustavo Castano Restrepo is now charged with kidnapping resulting in death.
His loved ones — who stand by his innocence — were there as he appeared in federal court Tuesday afternoon in Miami.
6 p.m. report:
Eduardo Moreno, Liliana’s brother and Daniela’s uncle, said he physically searched for them both and begged the public for leads since they went missing in 2016.
“I’m hoping he can open his eyes and say what happened with my sister and niece,” said Moreno. “I want to know more.”
Castano Restrepo has long been a subject of suspicion, particularly from family members of the mother and daughter who hold yearly vigils outside his home.
Castano Restrepo fathered Daniela during an extramarital affair and kept the child a secret for years.
Moreno’s sister reported the pair missing after she hadn’t been able to reach them for two days.
When police arrived at Moreno’s home in the Doral Terrace neighborhood, police found her wallet, food on the stove and her car still in the driveway.
The last person to see the pair was Castano Restrepo, who told police that Moreno asked to be dropped off — along with her daughter — on Florida’s Turnpike at Okeechobee Road.
Days later, Castano Restrepo attempted suicide with a box cutter. He was tased by police during the incident and lost his eye in the process.
The indictment is limited in details, but alleges Castano Restrepo kidnapped Moreno and used “a cellular telephone, the internet, a motor vehicle, and the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike” to commit the crime.
It goes on to say that kidnapping resulted in the deaths of both Liliana and Daniela Moreno.