In December 2003—six years after he disappeared—a reporter at the investigative television documentary program CONTACTO was offered a tantalizing lead in the Schaefer case. CONTACTO was one of the first fruits of democracy in Chile. Founded in 1991, CONTACTO was a prime-time program dedicated to investigative television reporting both in Chile and abroad. It was broadcast on Channel 13, and affiliated with the Universidad Católica.

Its small team of 12 producers and reporters had investigated complex sociological and human-interest stories, including segments on child abuse, drug trafficking, post-Cold War Berlin, missionaries in Africa, Parkinson’s disease, and the poor’s lack of access to the judicial system. A story on foreign pedophiles who fled to Chile and lived there with impunity had brought about a change in legislation. All of this earned CONTACTO a reputation for serious and in-depth journalism, as well as many awards for its work.

A tip . In December 2003 Carola Fuentes, an investigative reporter at CONTACTO, received a phone call. Hernán Fernandez was the lawyer for Schaefer’s victims, and someone well known to CONTACTO. Over the years, he had provided a wealth of information about the Colonia , as well as contacts with surviving members. Now he had a tip from an anonymous source about Schaefer’s whereabouts, and wanted to pass the tip on to CONTACTO.

Fuentes

Fuentes was interested, but knew she would need more information. Nonetheless, she took the lead to her executive editor. Patricia Bazán Cardemil was intrigued, but skeptical. The lead was so tenuous that she was wary of sending a reporter on what could easily prove a wild-goose chase. On the other hand, she knew that Fernandez, at least, was a sterling source.

Even if the search proved futile, Bazán Cardemil reasoned, it might be worth the risk. Schaefer had become such a mythical and reviled figure in Chilean society that, if Fuentes managed to find him, audiences would be riveted. Bazán Cardemil gave Fuentes the green light to pursue the story. Her editor would be Pilar Rodríguez .

First steps . Through Fernandez, Fuentes first interviewed two ex -colonos . She realized that while they did not know Schaefer’s exact location, they did have a lot of useful information. They knew, for example, that Schaefer was incapable of living alone. Old and sick, wherever he was he was likely surrounded by a protective phalanx of caretakers. The couple provided names of several of Schaefer’s most trusted deputies, all of whom had disappeared at the same time as Schaefer. Among them were an elderly nurse, a cook, Schaefer’s adopted daughter, and a security specialist named Peter Schmidt.

They warned that Schmidt, Schaefer’s right-hand man and bodyguard, was a dangerous man. Trained in karate and marksmanship, Schmidt had grown up at Schaefer’s side, and his loyalty was unconditional. Fuentes realized that this was her first tangible lead: find Peter Schmidt or the rest of Schaefer’s inner circle, and she might find Paul Schaefer.