Search intensifies for university student who disappeared after submitting work in La Plata

Mariano Martínez left home early Monday carrying the architectural drawings he needed to submit. The 21-year-old student reached the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the National University of La Plata, but reportedly felt unwell after entering and handed his work to a classmate before leaving.

His mother, Alicia, said the family tried to contact him around midday but received no response. By nightfall, they realized something was wrong. Martínez normally told his family about his plans, she said, and worked while studying.

The family reported the disappearance and began tracing his movements with help from classmates. A check of his SUBE transit card placed him in Punta Lara, in Ensenada. His mother initially feared he had been robbed.

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My son left home on Monday at eight in the morning, with a bag containing the drawings he had to submit. He had gone the whole weekend without sleeping because of that assignment. He pushed himself too hard to meet the deadline.

The family later learned that Martínez had taken a Line 275 bus to Punta Lara, returned to La Plata and boarded a train. He met another student on the train, who got off at Hudson, while Martínez continued to Constitución station in Buenos Aires. He then left the station, crossed Brasil Street and went to a square. Alicia said people had reported seeing him at Hudson station and believed he may have returned there by train.

“Everyone is looking for him. It is strange. I think my son is ill, that something happened to him, that he became depressed,” Alicia said in a television interview. She asked Martínez to contact the family, even briefly, to confirm that he was safe. The article also reported that he may have sent a text message to his 19-year-old brother, Lucas, while in Punta Lara.

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Everyone is looking for him. It is strange. I think my son is ill, that something happened to him, that he became depressed.