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The disappearance of a 12-year-old boy has left his family and neighbors in Santiago de Cuba on high alert, after the child left his home on Friday, April 17, under circumstances that have yet to be clarified.
The minor was identified as Raimiel Salazar Cobas. According to his mother, Katerine Cobas Olivares, the boy left the residence located in building S42, apartment 6, in Micro 7 of the José Martí district, around two in the afternoon, reported through his Facebook profile journalist Cuscó Tarradell.
The woman explained that at that moment she had briefly gone out to fetch medication after a recent surgery, while an uncle of the child was sleeping inside the home. During that time, the boy left the house without notifying anyone.
According to the information released, Raimiel was carrying a backpack, which could allow him to change his clothes and make it more difficult to identify him. The minor is approximately 1.20 meters tall and is enrolled at José Manuel Isla Special School in Santiago de Cuba.
The family believes that the boy may have initially headed to his father's house, located at Camino de la Isla 593, in Plan Novoa, near the secondary school Micro 8, within the same district.
However, the father stated that the minor visited his home on two occasions and that on the second visit, he told him to return with his mother.
According to the mother, Raimiel has a history of leaving home or school and heading to his father's house.
The official report of disappearance was filed on Saturday, April 18, at 2:00 PM at the National Revolutionary Police unit located in Micro 9, in the José Martí district, where an investigation file was opened to locate the minor.
So far, the Cuban authorities have not issued any official statement regarding the case.
This report comes just days after another similar case in Santiago de Cuba, when the disappearance of Enzo Larduet Rivera, an 11-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder was reported. He vanished in the Sorribe neighborhood and was found safe and sound less than 24 hours later, which keeps hope alive for a positive outcome for Raimiel's family.
Family and close friends have requested the public's assistance in obtaining any information that could help locate the child and ensure a safe return home. The mother asked anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact her immediately at the phone number 51546984.
Santiago de Cuba has recorded several similar cases in recent months. In November 2025, the boy Yordan Corrales Ricardo, who is five years old, was missing for over a week before being found safe in the municipality of Songo-La Maya, also thanks to sustained pressure on social media.
In recent days, in the province of Guantánamo, the child Gael de Jesús Leyva, two years old, went missing in the Los Cerezo community, in the municipality of Imías, and was found alive following a search coordinated by the Municipal Operations and Rescue Group, the Red Cross, and volunteer neighbors.
Cuba lacks an official rapid alert system equivalent to the Amber Alert, forcing families to rely on Facebook as their main search tool. Activists have documented that "posting, sharing, and maintaining public pressure" on social media is the only real mobilization mechanism available to Cuban families in these cases.
The lack of effective official protocols has serious consequences. A heartbreaking case is that of Lali Paola Moliner Bosa, a three-year-old girl who went missing on February 25, 2024, in the Bahía neighborhood of East Havana, and who, two years after her disappearance, had still not been found.
Her aunt, Valia Zaldívar Salazar, denounced the institutional neglect with words that capture the despair of many Cuban families: "to feel forgotten by the authorities who still have no response".
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