Peru stumped over missing diplomat in Russia

Peru’s foreign minister expressed concern Wednesday over one his country’s diplomats who went missing shortly after the new year in Russia, where authorities have launched an investigation.

"It’s a mystery and an enigma to us," Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde told AFP about the disappearance of Sergio Del Castillo Cebreros, the 30-year-old head of consular affairs at the Peruvian embassy in Moscow.

Del Castillo Cebreros disappeared in the early hours of January 1 when he exited a Moscow nightclub. He never returned home, and Moscow officials who made the case public have initiated a homicide investigation.

"The last image we have of him is from a security camera in the morning, when he lights up a cigarette, walks out and turns a corner. It is the last thing we know," Belaunde said.

"Unfortunately we have no further information."

The diplomat’s father, Sergio del Castillo, has expressed frustration with the way Russian authorities have handled the case, especially given their statements that his son may have left the city with a group of friends without telling his family.

"They waited 10 days to rule out a hypothesis that was wrong," he said.

The father also took issue with the nature of the criminal investigation, saying it should be a missing persons case instead.

The diplomat’s mother and sister are presently in Moscow to learn the details of the case firsthand.

Peru’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying "all necessary efforts" were being made to locate the diplomat and that they were counting on full cooperation from Russian authorities.

Del Castillo Cebreros, an economics expert, has spent the last two years in Russia, his first overseas posting.