Body found in Teide National Park is that of Victor Teni, the Tenerife athlete missing since 2014

On:24 October 2017

Updated 24 October 2017: As I posted HERE three days ago, a body was found in the Teide National Park and it was thought likely that it was Victor Teni who went missing, as reported below, in January 2014. The Instituto de Medicina Legal has now confirmed that it was indeed Victor whose body was found. Hopefully it will bring closure to his friends and family who have had nothing but uncertainty about his fate for so long.

Update 18 February 2014: Let’s not forget Víctor Teni, the athlete who disappeared while training on Teide over new year. Friends and fellow athletes have set up a petition asking the government – here in the Canaries and Madrid – to provide resources to help find him … for his family, if nothing else. The link for the petition is HERE. Victor’s friends ask that you sign, and share, to help bring Victor back to his family and friends.

Update 5 February: The search has continued over the last three weeks with friends, fellow athletes and Guardia Civil combing the Las Cañadas caldera, but tonight, journalist Félix Rojas has said on Mírame TV that the search will now shift to El Tanque and the Santiago del Teide area. It seems that the last signal from Victor’s mobile came from that area. There are some questions as to whether time has been lost searching in the wrong area.

Update 14 January: Despite the search being officially called off yesterday, the Guardia Civil says the force itself will continue a constant and minute search for Victor in the Teide area. The investigation into his disappearance remains open, and despite some reports that the investigation might be a “criminal” one, police say that this is not correct and that they are working on the assumption that his disappearance was accidental. Today, the Grupo Rural de Seguridad has been combing the area, and their efforts will be augmented by the arrival of two dogs trained specifically in searching for people missing in mountain areas.

Update 4pm: Unhappily, the search for Victor will be called off at the end of today. The hard decision was taken after a meeting of all the forces involved in the rescue effort. This is now the 12th day of searching, and Victor has been missing, as of tomorrow, for a fortnight. From now, security forces will continue their investigation following the report of his disappearance, as is routine with any denuncia for a missing person, but the active search will end at dusk today.

Update 13 January: Yesterday’s search could not have been more intensive, but it resumes today with Victor still missing, and Tenerife President Carlos Alonso has offered encouragement to professionals and volunteers involved in the hunt.

Update 11 January: Another day of intensive searching has ended without finding Victor. The Guardia Civil say that 245 official searchers with 49 mountaineer volunteers plus tens of others took part in todays effort. The army is involved, the Red Cross, AEA (Ayuda en emergencias Anaga), GES search and rescue, Guardia Civil land teams, helicopters, dogs … . The search will resume tomorrow morning.

Update 10 January: Tenerife president Carlos Alonso has confirmed that for safety reasons the search for Víctor will not be resumed until the Teide access roads are reopened, but that it is top priority as soon as they are. President Alonso said that the Cabildo was in direct contact with the family and all emergency and search teams involved in trying to find him. He also made particular reference to volunteers who have swelled the numbers considerably, and who, he said, were experts in the specific terrain in question. Assuming the access roads are reopened this weekend, the area to be searched will be expanded, to include:

Update 9 January: The Guardia Civil has announced that the search for Victor has been suspended today due to adverse weather conditions in the crater and peaks of Teide. The following photo shows the situation near the observatory around 10am this morning, with temperatures down to around -5ºC.

Update 8 January: Victor’s family and friends are putting the authorities under considerable pressure to bring in the army to help the search, which now enters its fifth day. As of 8am, the full range of rescue teams, volunteers, dogs, and now a search and rescue helicopter was back on Teide looking for any sign of him. Conditions up there have worsened over the last 24 hours, and the wind is picking up. The Teleférico has said it’s closed until at least 2pm because of the winds, and the forecast is for heavy snow above 1,800m over the next 36 hours. As positive as one tries to be, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that time is of the essence, and that this might in any case already be a recovery, rather than a rescue, operation.

Update 5pm: The Guardia Civil says that it has brought a rescue dog in today to help in the search, and that they have been actively looking in an area where there had been a rockfall. As of yet there is still no news.

Update 7 January: The search has resumed for what is now the fourth day, and around 50 volunteers have joined the professional rescue teams.

Update 6 January: Yesterday’s search saw the official teams being joined by some 250 fellow athletes and friends rather than the 100 originally estimated, but still it was without result. The search has resumed this morning, the third day of looking for Victor.

Update 5 January: The Guardia Civil and other rescue teams have resumed the search for Victor this morning, starting at 8am back in the national park, and aided by around 100 volunteers, comprising friends and family, and fellow sportsmen. Victor was reported missing on the 3rd, after intending to spend New Year’s Eve in the mountaineers’ refuge as part of a training exercise on New Year’s Day. Rescuers are not sure, however, whether he was intending to scale Teide or Guajara mountain, so the search is being divided between those two areas, spreading out from the refuge where his car was found.

Original post 4 January: The Guardia Civil has said that its mountain unit is searching in Las Cañadas for a sportsman who disappeared on New Year’s Day. The search team has been joined by AEA, Bomberos del Consorcio de Tenerife, as well as mountaineering groups and friends of the missing man. He has been identified as 39-year-old Víctor Teni, a well-known triathlete, mountaineer and trail runner (photo above from Victor’s own FB page). His last contact with family and friends is said to have been at 11am on 1 January. His vehicle was found parked near the mountaineers’ Refugio Edmundo Herrero in the Llano de Ucanca area. Below is the poster that has been released, giving the phone number to call if anyone has any information.

I see it’s been a while since any posts here, but i am nevertheless hoping some kind soul would reply.
I used to live in Los Cristianos and Masca many years ago, and was walking a lot in the mountains all over, including everywhere around Teide, my x used to work as a mountain guide there. I only recently heard about Victor gone missing, and although i did not know him, i know someone who did, sadly passed away so i cannot find out anything more that way..This still touches me very deeply, so i’m wondering is there any latest news in regard to Victor? I know his family is still looking for him every weekend, but is there any other volunteers, and or/has there been any new ideas as to what might have happened to him? I would be really grateful for any reply.

Thank you Janet, i’m grateful for the reply, i will stay in touch. Am making a little reminder video about Victor for my youtube channel now.
Thank you for the blog and all the best, will be checking in every so often.

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