The Chilean Construction Worker Who Disappeared After Falling into a Well in 1964 and Was Seen 60 Years Later
In 1964, during the construction of a highway in northern Chile, a construction worker fell into an abandoned well and disappeared forever. Sixty years later, in 2024, an identical man appeared in the same spot, wearing the same clothes, using the same tools, and without having aged a single day. The documents in his pocket confirmed the impossible.
They dated from 1964, but when the police arrived to question him, the man was gone. He had disappeared again, as if time itself had claimed him. This is the story of the construction worker who fell 60 years into the future. August 21, 1964, Coquimbo Region, Chile. The government of Eduardo Frey Montalba had launched one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in Chilean history.
The construction of the Pan-American Highway North, which would connect Santiago with the Peruvian border across 1,500 km of desert territory, was a project that symbolized modern Chile, the promise of progress that would bring economic development to the country’s most remote regions. At kilometer 847 of this highway, 60 km north of La Serena, a crew of workers was working under the supervision of the Rodríguez y Hermanos construction company.
It was an arid, mountainous area, where the Patagonian wind, combined with the desert climate, created extreme working conditions. Among these workers was 34-year-old Manuel Espinoza Morales, originally from Valparaíso. Manuel had come to the north looking for well-paying work to support his wife, Carmen, and their three young children.
He was a robust man, accustomed to hard labor, known among his coworkers for his dedication and for his habit of always carrying a small portable radio that he tuned to Chilean folk music stations. Manuel was one of those men who weren’t afraid of hard work. Segundo Ramírez, who had been his work partner, recalled this years later.
He got up before everyone else, worked harder than everyone else, and was always in a good mood, singing the songs he heard on his radio. The workers’ camp was located 5 km from the construction site. They were basic barracks with bunk beds and minimal facilities, but by the standards of the time, it was considered decent accommodation for construction workers.
Manuel shared a barrack with five coworkers, all from different regions of Chile, united by the need for work and the hope of a better future for their families. The area where they were building the highway had a mining history dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Between 1905 and 1920, several companies had established small copper mining operations in the region, but most had closed when the surface veins were exhausted or when fluctuations in the international price of copper made the operation unviable. These abandoned mines had left a dangerous legacy.
Dozens of extraction and ventilation shafts were scattered throughout the area, many unmarked, some partially covered with wood that had rotted over time. The engineers from the Rodríguez y Hermanos construction company were aware of this situation and had included in their plans the identification and sealing of the most dangerous shafts that could interfere with the road construction.
But in such a vast area and with tight budgets, it was inevitable that some shafts would go unnoticed. And it was precisely one of these forgotten shafts that would forever change Manuel Espinoza’s destiny. August 21, 1964, 2:30 in the afternoon, Manuel’s crew had finished lunch and was preparing for the afternoon’s work.
The day’s task consisted of leveling a particularly difficult section of terrain, where the road would have to cross a rock formation. Manuel had been assigned to scout the area furthest from the work site, where the excavation for an overpass was supposed to begin.
His task was to mark with stakes the points where explosives would later be placed to fragment the rock. It was a job that required walking alone over uneven terrain, carrying wooden stakes, a heavy hammer, a measuring tape, and his ever-present portable radio.
“See you in a couple of hours,” he shouted to Segundo Ramírez before heading toward his assigned area. Segundo watched him walk away with a determined stride toward the rock formations to the east, carrying his radio in one hand and his toolbox in the other. It was the last time anyone would see Manuel Espinoza alive.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, when the workers began packing up their tools for the end of the day, Segundo noticed that Manuel hadn’t returned. “Has anyone seen Manuel?” he asked the crew. No one had seen him since…
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