Miguel, the « man who died twice »
For over four decades, Miguel Morales Molina was considered missing in Spain. In 2016, the man from the village of Durcal in Andalusia was even officially declared dead by a judge at the request of his family. Much too early, as it turned out now.
Because the father of two daughters was still alive until a few months ago. He was now identified as one of the more than 230 fatalities of the devastating storm in the Valencia region last autumn. Last November, short time after the historical tidal waves of October 29, 2024, his body was recovered in an flooded orange grove near the metropolis Valencia – almost 500 kilometers northeast of the man's home.
Flood disaster in Valencia: After the mud, the anger follows
The newspapers « El País » and « El Mundo » reported, among other things, about the unusual solution of the missing. The identity of the victim – of the man, « who died twice », as « El País » titled – was undoubtedly confirmed using fingerprints, it was said, citing the authorities.
His two daughters Jessica and Sara were only five and two years old when the then 34-year-old disappeared into Durcal in the province of Granada in August 1984. According to acquaintances, Miguel lived for years as a homeless under a bridge in Valencia. He did not notice because he had no papers, apparently never visited a doctor and, for example, never withdrawn money from a bank.
Mrs. briefly submitted divorce
The call from the police with the news that her husband, who was swallowed by the ground, only died recently, made Maria Montserrat largely cold, said his former partner and retired cleaner about « El Mundo ». Miguel consumed drugs and abused them several times. “He beat me up again and again. Even his parents said to me: separate yourself or he kills you. «
Montserrat had lasted for a long time, but shortly before his disappearance she submitted the divorce – after he attacked her with a knife, even though she just held one of the two children in her arms. « Somehow we always thought all the time that he was still alive, » daughter Sara said in an interview with « El País ». « But I never wanted to search for it. »
