900 Days Without Anabel: The Shocking True Story of Anabel Segura's Abduction — and Where Her Kidnappers Are Now

When Anabel Segura was kidnapped in April 1993, police searched for over two and a half years, unaware she had been killed the same day she disappeared.

The Netflix docuseries 900 Days Without Anabel chronicles the true story of Segura, a 22 year old from Madrid who was kidnapped by Emilio Muñoz Guadix and Candido Ortiz Aon. The kidnappers took her to an abandoned factory and, despite murdering her shortly after the abduction, continued to make ransom calls to her family over the following 900 days in an attempt to extort money.

In September 1995, Muñoz and Ortiz were arrested and sentenced to 39 years in prison, later increased to 43. Ortiz died in prison in 2009, while Muñoz was released in November 2013 following changes to Spanish sentencing laws. Upon his release from prison, Muñoz told Libertad Digital that although some people may say otherwise, he does not consider himself a “danger” to society.

“I have made a serious mistake that I have assumed from the first moment,” he said in a video that has been translated from Spanish. “I have paid my sentence.”

Here is everything to know about Anabel Segura and where her kidnappers are today.

Who was Anabel Segura?

Segura, a 22-year-old from Madrid, became the focus of a harrowing three-year kidnapping case in 1993.

She lived in La Moraleja, a wealthy residential area in Spain, with her parents, Sigrid Foles and José Segura Nájera, a high-ranking corporate executive. On April 12, 1993, Anabel went for a run around her neighborhood and never returned home.

According to the Netflix documentary, that afternoon, police received an emergency call from a gardener working at a local school. He reported hearing voices and screams for help and observed two individuals in a white van with a young woman. At the location he described, authorities found a Walkman, a white T-shirt and a hoodie, believed to belong to the young woman.

Muñoz had been going through a “difficult time financially” after buying a house in Pantoja, per 900 Days Without Anabel, prompting him to suggest to Ortiz, his childhood friend, that they do a kidnapping in a wealthy neighborhood — and choose their subject completely at random.

Muñoz later revealed to laSexta in November 2013 that Segura had thought they were trying to rape her when she was taken. “I said ‘No, don’t worry. We are not that kind of guys. We are kidnapping. We want money,’ ” he said.

How long was Anabel Segura missing?

After Segura was kidnapped by Muñoz and Ortiz, the pair made 14 ransom demands to her parents over the course of two and a half years — some of which are featured in Netflix’s 900 Days. Initially, they insisted on speaking directly with José and would hang up if he was unavailable, but later they communicated through Rafael Escuredo Rodríguez, a close family friend who served as their lawyer and mediator.

In the first call, as portrayed in a translated version in the Netflix series, Muñoz and Ortiz instructed Escuredo to relay a message to José: “Tell him we kidnapped his daughter but she’s doing fine. She doesn’t need anything but her safety depends on you — on all of you.”

Muñoz and Ortiz demanded 150 million pesetas (almost $100,000 US dollars), instructing the family to place the money in a sports bag and await further instructions. 

“If you don’t do like we say, or if we find out that you’ve warned the police, she’s going to suffer,” the kidnappers continued.

Over the next two and a half years, police worked to locate the kidnappers while Segura’s family took extreme measures to secure her release. Desperate for their daughter’s return, Segura’s parents collected the money by borrowing from friends, family and acquaintances, per 900 Days Without Anabel. Additionally, Segura’s father remortgaged his home, offered to pay millions of pesetas to whomever could provide answers or evidence and hired private companies to investigate her disappearance.

Having collected the money the kidnappers demanded, the family and undercover cops made multiple attempts to meet up with Muñoz and Ortiz and retrieve Segura, but they never showed.

Her abduction held Spain in suspense for 900 days before her body was found in September 1995.

Was Anabel Segura murdered?

Segura’s kidnappers pretended she was alive for nearly three years in an attempt to extort money from her family, but in reality, she was killed only six hours after being taken.

After kidnapping Segura, her abductors demanded information about her parents to contact them for ransom. Realizing they had no designated location to hold her hostage, Muñoz and Ortiz aimlessly drove around, trying to formulate a plan, as reenacted in 900 Days. During this time, Segura attempted to escape by jumping out of the van, but the kidnappers recaptured her.

Muñoz and Ortiz eventually took Segura to an abandoned brick factory in Numancia de la Sagra. There, they began arguing in front of her and panicked over the risk of her knowing their plan and their vehicle’s license plate number.

Knowing they already had the information needed for the ransom, Muñoz and Ortiz decided to kill her at 9:30 p.m.

Were Anabel Segura’s kidnappers ever caught?

Three months after Segura was taken, the kidnappers sent her family a tape of a woman’s voice saying she was “fine” and crying to be taken home — but it was actually the voice of Muñoz’s wife, Felisa.

Police proceeded to release the recording to the public in an attempt to gather help from the community in identifying the people heard on the tape. After hearing it on TV, a viewer was able to identify the voice of Ortiz, leading police to uncover the crimes.

On Sept. 28, 1995, police arrested Ortiz, Muñoz and Felisa. According to the Netflix docuseries, Ortiz was on his way to do a plumbing job when he was apprehended. He reportedly told law enforcement, “I knew this would happen, and whether you believe it or not, I was hoping I’d be arrested. I can’t live like this.”

Ortiz revealed that they had killed Segura and buried her, but refused to disclose the location. Two days later, her body was found at an abandoned warehouse in Numancia de la Sagra, Toledo.

Muñoz and Ortiz were sentenced to 39 years in prison. However, after various appeals, the Supreme Court raised their sentences to 43 years. According to the Spanish outlet La Vanguardia, they were each charged with aggravating circumstances of treachery, illegal detention and attempted fraud.

Additionally, Felisa was sentenced to six months for covering up the kidnapping and impersonating the victim — her sentence was later increased to 28 months.

Where are Anabel Segura’s kidnappers now?

According to La Vanguardia, Ortiz died from a heart attack in 2009 in the middle of his prison sentence. Meanwhile, a change to a legal ruling prompted Muñoz to be released in 2013, after serving only 18 years of his sentence.

Following his release, Muñoz spoke to Libertad Digital and said that he told Segura’s family that he was “very sorry,” and as he said in court, that he would have given 10 years of his life so that the crime “would not have happened.”

When asked if he had seen a therapist during his sentence, Muñoz admitted he had not and added that he didn’t believe it would have made a difference. “If you want to be bad, you are bad, and if you want to be good, you are good,” he said.

Segura’s legacy remains imprinted on the city of Madrid, commemorated by a civic center named in her honor and a bust placed outside the building in her likeness.