Aahana Swrup
The Netflix series ‘Someone Has to Know’ fictionalizes the real-life tragedy surrounding the Jorge Matute Johns case, which shook the nation of Chile from the late 90s to early 2000s and beyond. In the Spanish show, a young man named Julio Montoya Font goes missing after a night out at a local nightclub, La Cucaaracha Dioscotheque. Mysteriously enough, despite being surrounded in the establishment by around 400 people, no one seems to have any idea about what happened to him on the night of his disappearance, including his own friends.
In the aftermath, his mother, Vanessa, and younger brother, Eric, lead the relentless search efforts, putting pressure on the authorities not to sweep the case under the rug. While the show, originally titled ‘Alguien Tiene Que Saber,’ remains based on real-life events, the narrative creates fictitious counterparts for the concerned individuals in the real disappearance of Jorge Matute Johns. Thus, Maria Teresa Johns, the real mother, remains the direct inspiration behind Vanessa and her on-screen narrative.
Jorge Matute’s Real-Life Mother, Maria Teresa John, led the Search After Her Son’s Disappearance
On the night of November 19, 1999, Jorge Eduardo Matute Johns, a forestry engineering student at the University of Concepción in Chile, went out to a nightclub with some of his friends. Afterward, the young man never returned home. As his family, including mother Maria Teresa John, father Jorge Matute Matute, and brother Alex Matute, grew concerned, they reached out to the authorities. As a result, widespread search efforts were launched that were reportedly kept alive at the consistent and public insistence of the family.
Initially, it was suspected that Jorge might have been a victim of kidnapping, especially since the family received a ransom call around the same time. Nonetheless, even after months of investigation, no concrete answers turned up. In the meantime, Teresa John and her family’s dedicated attempts to helm the search after Jorge turned the incident into a nationwide story, attracting significant media attention. Eventually, on February 12, 2004, the case officially went from a disappearance to a death when the authorities discovered the victim’s remains at the Bíobío River. Following the discovery, Jorge’s family finally got to hold funeral services for their loved one on April 30, 2005, at the Parque San Pedro cemetery.
Meanwhile, as the investigation continued, it only led to false leads and dead ends. By the late 2000s, the case started losing heat, leading to a seemingly final closure of the investigation in 2010. However, in 2014, new examinations were carried out on the victim’s remains, confirming his death as a homicide. That same year, Teresa John and her son met with the Chilean authorities, who expressed their dedication to solving the case. Over the next few years, new theories appeared regarding what exactly happened to Jorge. Unfortunately, despite the years-long investigation, Teresa John and her family have yet to receive any definitive answers. No convictions have yet been made, and the case still remains unsolved.
Maria Teresa John Opposes the Netflix/Fabula Series Inspired by Her Son’s Tragic Death
Even though ‘Someone Has to Know’ finds a very tangible basis in the case of Jorge Matute, the series does not have the Matute family’s vote of confidence or support. In fact, the family, including the mother, Maria Teresa John, has been vocally against the project since the very start. As per her account, Fabula, the production company, did not obtain permission from the family before going through with the series. The matriarch, in particular, has publicly spoken about the conversations she had with executive producer Juan de Dios Larraín. Notably, she accused him of calling her a “coward” after she expressed her dissent with their decision to produce the series while she’s still alive.
As a result, Teresa John and her family had remained engaged with battles against the production company while the series was still in development. Allegedly, it is due to these same complications that the production ultimately had to use fictionalized names for the characters. The mother was particularly opposed to letting Fabula or Netflix use her son’s name and her family’s pain to make a profit. Teresa John has also expressed complicated feelings about the show itself, highlighting how it naturally forced her to go back to a dark chapter of her life. She has claimed that the series’ creation had a direct impact on her health, resulting in a 15-kilogram weight loss. Thus, even though the mother continues to move forward in life with her family, she also continues to carry the dark shadow of Jorge’s unsolved murder with her, perpetually demanding justice for her son.
Read More: Someone Has to Know True Story, Explained
You must be logged in to post a comment.