Esther Estepa went missing when she was traveling across the Spanish coast in August 2023
Credit: Netflix (2)
NEED TO KNOW
- Esther Estepa was a Spanish nomad who kept in close contact with her family while she traveled through Spain
- TikToker José Jurado Montilla, a convicted murderer, claimed to have traveled with Estepa before her disappearance in 2023
- Montilla was later arrested and charged in connection with Estepa’s death after her remains were discovered in 2024
Esther Estepa was living a nomadic lifestyle in Spain when a chance encounter allegedly led to her death.
She was born and raised in Seville, Spain, but she moved away from home as an adult and traveled across the country. While traveling, Estepa kept in touch with her family, especially her mom, Josefa “Pepa” Pérez.
When Pérez began receiving strange messages from her daughter in late August 2023, she had a feeling that something was off. She tried calling Estepa and when she didn't answer, Pérez reported her missing.
Around the same time, Pérez and her family started getting calls from TikToker José Jurado Montilla who claimed that he was traveling with Estepa before her disappearance. He went on to call the family several times and ask about the investigation, while simultaneously allegedly retracing his and Estepa's steps from the days before she vanished and broadcasting them across the social media platform.
Estepa's family quickly became suspicious of Montilla — especially when they learned that he had previously served nearly 30 years in prison for four murders in the 1980s. Estepa's disappearance and her family's fight for justice were retold in the Netflix documentary The TikTok Killer.
Here's everything to know about what happened to Esther Estepa.
Who was Esther Estepa?
Credit: Netflix
Estepa was a 42-year-old woman who was raised in Seville, Spain, before leaving her hometown to "spread her wings" in 2013, according to her mother, Pérez.
"She was always going from one place to the next and almost always out and about," her sister, Raquel, said in the Netflix doc. "My mother was aware of this. That's why she kept a close eye on her."
Although she traveled across the country and didn't stay in the same place for more than a year, Estepa kept a close relationship with Pérez and spoke to her "daily."
"My daughter had been living on her own for years, but we talked every day on WhatsApp, by phone or video call," Pérez told Artículo 14 in November 2024.
In 2022, Estepa was getting back on her feet after she ended an allegedly abusive relationship, so she stayed at various women's shelters across Spain for the next year.
When was Estepa reported missing?
Credit: Netflix
In August 2023, Estepa was traveling along the coast of Spain and staying at various women's shelters and hostels. Pérez began to suspect that something had happened to her daughter when she started getting odd messages from her. Pérez received notes via WhatsApp from someone claiming to be Estepa who said she was staying with friends in Buenos Aires on Aug. 23, 2023.
"I don't have a job, I'm living on the street with two Argentinian friends," the messages read, per The TikTok Killer. "I've lied to you many times, I'm broke, my phone is dead, I'll sell it. I love you very much, but I'm a bad daughter. I'm leaving Spain to live a new life in Buenos Aires. Take good care of yourself, Mom."
Pérez immediately began to feel concerned, because both the meaning and the phrases of the messages didn't seem like something Estpa would write. When Pérez tried to call Estepa, her phone went to voicemail and appeared to be shut off.
"She didn't have any friends there," Pérez said in the doc, referring to the messages claiming Estepa was staying with friends in Argentina. "It made me doubt that it was her writing it."
In addition to the strange messages, Pérez also felt something was wrong, because Estepa "had so many plans that we always ruled out the possibility that her disappearance was voluntary. What’s more, we expected her to be back home by Christmas," she told Artículo 14.
Estepa's family contacted authorities and officially reported her missing on Aug. 26, 2023. Police later traced Estepa's last known locations to Alicante and Gandía.
What happened to Estepa?
Credit: Netflix
Shortly after Pérez reported her daughter missing, she began receiving calls from an older man who claimed that he was with her daughter in the days leading up to her disappearance. The man was TikTok content creator José “Dinamita” Jurado Montilla, and he told Pérez that he met Estepa in a hostel in Alicante.
“We had reported her disappearance a few weeks earlier, and suddenly, a man called me saying he had run into my daughter at a hostel in Alicante,” Pérez said in the documentary. “He told me he wanted me to know what he had already told the police: that the last time he had seen Esther was when he accompanied her to a health center in Gandía because her legs were hurting a lot.”
Montilla alleged that he and Estepa hit it off, because they were both nomads. He said that they decided to hike together and traveled to Gandía together, but they had to make the hospital stop on Aug. 22, 2023. Montilla alleged that the last time he saw Estepa was when he dropped her off there.
However, Pérez and her family started looking into who Montilla was and discovered that he had previously served 28 years in prison for the murders of four people. Montilla was released in 2013 because of a successful appeal to a Spanish doctrine and had gone on to create a popular TikTok account where he documented his travel journeys and maintained his innocence.
Although Estepa's family relayed their concerns about Montilla to the police, they didn't have any hard evidence that connected him to the crime. Estepa's case went cold for nearly a year.
In February 2024, hikers discovered a skull and other remains alongside a highway in Gandía, per El País. They later confirmed via DNA evidence that the remains belonged to Estepa. Medical examiners further declared that she was killed and died from blunt force trauma to her head.
Who killed Estepa?
Credit: Netflix
When Estepa's remains were discovered, Montilla was already in prison in connection with the 2022 death of a 21-year-old college student. He denied having anything to do with Estepa's death and has continued maintaining his innocence.
Montilla was charged in connection with her death in 2024. Prosecutors allege that they found evidence on Montilla's phone that proves he sexually assaulted and murdered Estepa.
As of March 2026, Montilla is in prison awaiting trial for both the college student and Estepa's deaths. He has also denied involvement in the student's killing.
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