Credit: Netflix

Netflix just dropped a chilling Chilean thriller this week called Someone Has to Know, and the eight-episode series has rightfully piqued netizens’ curiosity about its true origin.

Directed by Baby Bandito collaborators Fernando Guzzoni and Pepa San Martin, Someone Has to Know revolves around a determined mother’s desperate search for truth following her beloved son’s mysterious disappearance.

Someone Has to Know is a gripping Chilean drama series about the enigmatic vanishing of Julio, who disappears into thin air after a wild night out with friends. Distressed and desperate, Julio’s mother, Vanessa Font, initially places her trust in the justice system and the local community, believing they would bring her son back home.

Even the investigator in charge, Detective Montero, believes it won’t take long to uncover the truth, after all, hundreds of people saw the teen at the nightclub. But Vanessa’s hope is ultimately crushed when every lead – a nightclub owner accused of trafficking, a mute witness claims to have seen the abduction, and a priest who refuses to break his religious oath – ends up at a dead end.

For those curious, Someone Has to Know is inspired by the real missing persons case of a young man who disappeared from La Cucaracha nightclub in Talcahuano, Chile, in 1999. Investigative reporter Rodrigo Fluxá, who is the head writer for the series, reviewed the police files and reinterviewed people closely connected to the still unsolved case.

The Netflix series is based on 23-year-old Jorge Matute Johns, who disappeared on November 20th, 1999. The night he disappeared, Matute was at La Cucaracha nightclub in Talcahuano with his pals. Once the investigation kicked off, the nightclub owners and three employees were summoned for interrogation.

Although the investigators believed that someone, among hundreds of people, must have seen Matute leaving the club, the unreliable testimony of the owners and security personnel severely complicated the case. Due to an initial lack of evidence, they were ultimately released. With no more leads to follow up with, the cops also met a dead end. However, the parents were not set on giving up so soon.

While they kept pressurising authorities, in February 2003, a former priest claimed to have heard the confession of the man who reportedly killed Matute. However, due to his religious oath, he didn’t disclose the identity or any details. On further investigation, authorities concluded there was no truth behind his claims.

A year later, in February 2004, Matute’s body was discovered on the banks of the Bíobío River, bringing 19 total suspects under scrutiny yet again. However, the case got stuck in red tape, constantly making rounds of the Court of Appeals. The authorities initially couldn’t determine the nature of Matute’s death due to the lack of any signs of trauma, but a major breakthrough years later suggested he was poisoned.

Matute’s case was reopened in 2014, and his body was exhumed. Traces of pentobarbital were found, indicating that he was murdered. While there’s a working theory in place, it has still not been established what actually happened to Jorge that night. Visiting minister Carola Rivas eventually issued an order to arrest Cristian Montes, the nightclub’s former security guard and his ex-wife, Cherie Ruiz, over their misleading statements. However, they had to be released since there was no real evidence against them.

Matute’s father passed away in 2011 without getting justice for his son, and his mother continues to pressure the authorities for a definite closure to the case. But according to Minister Rivas’ statement, it seems they have officially given up, as he told journalists in 2018 that it was difficult to reconstruct the truth since the crime scene was destroyed, half of the suspects are dead, and even the evidence has been demolished.