Kriti Mehrotra
It was September 1990 when everything turned upside down for the Morales family as their beloved María Soledad Morales was found dead in one of the worst ways imaginable. The 17-year-old high school student had actually been recovered from a ditch along the road to Villa Parque Chacabuco, as per Netflix’s ‘Breaking the Silence: The María Soledad Case’ after having been fatally raped, drugged, and beaten. But alas, despite the best efforts of parents as well as loved ones to ensure quick answers and justice, it took nearly seven years for the killers of the Catamarca native to face the consequences of their brutal, ruthless actions.
Ada and Elías Morales Hailed From a Working Class Background
While it’s unclear precisely when Ada Rizzardo first came across Elías Morales, fell in love, and tied the knot with him, we do know they were happily married with a big family by the time the 1990s rolled around. In fact, María (born on September 12, 1972) was the second of their seven children, all of whom they raised with love in the Valle Viejo area of the Catamarca Province, Argentina. It turns out that while the matriarch was a proud homemaker, the patriarch was a public employee who eventually had to be put on disability from the provincial highway department following an accident.
As per records, Ada, Elías, and their children all resided in a modest house on the outskirts of the city, where crime wasn’t really prevalent, which is just part of why 1990 shook them to the core. The former actually once stated all her kids were very responsible, especially her “very sweet, very respectful, almost timid” María, who never really liked going out on the weekends to party either. However, September 7, 1990, was different because the teen really wanted to attend a school-organized dance party to raise funds for the graduating class trip to Carmen and San José.
María had asked her parents’ permission to go to this gathering as well as to later spend the night at a close friend’s place before promising she would return home by 4 pm the next evening. Therefore, when she failed to make it back on time without any prior indication or information, her loved ones knew something was terribly wrong and immediately began searching for her. Little did they know their efforts throughout the weekend would go in vain as local highway workers would find her in a ditch on the morning of September 10. Her identity was confirmed by her distraught father.
Ada and Elías Morales Fought Hard to Attain Justice For Their Daughter
According to the aforementioned documentary, Ada and Elías found out what had happened to their daughter within weeks owing to possible witnesses and rumors, yet they couldn’t get officials on board. Nevertheless, instead of giving in to their grief and giving up hope, they turned the burning inside of them into a bright fire to bring their daughter justice no matter how long it took. They organized as well as participated in several silent marches despite allegedly getting countless abusive threats owing to their belief that María’s 28-year-old boyfriend, Luis Tula, and a few young sons of local politicians were behind her demise.
In the end, they were proved right as Luis and Guillermo Luque were convicted in 1998 – no one else was formally charged or tried – but it didn’t bring them peace, as nothing could ever bring back their little girl. They subsequently did try their best to move on from the past while keeping María’s memories and legacy alive in their hearts, yet nothing was the same for these continued Catamarca residents. Nevertheless, from what we can tell, with Elías having unfortunately passed away back in 2016, it appears as if an elderly Ada has now evolved into an advocate against violence against women and children. This is evidently her way to keep her daughter’s real story alive.
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