Argentine officials announced the discovery of a brutally beaten teen body in an unmarked grave, five years after the the teen was reported missing.

El Pais reported an autopsy of the body identified as that of Luciano Arruga, 17, revealed he suffered abuse by police forces in Buenos Aires before being killed within the city limits.

Arruga's sister, Vanesa Orieta, told El Pais that the police took advantage of the family's poverty and tried to persuade her brother to engage in illegal activities in exchange for shoes -- which is a luxury item for some of the youths in the poor urban areas.

They police reportedly first approached him in December the year before he disappeared, asking him to steal for them. The rewards soon escalated to include weapons and cars, but Orieta said Arruga refused those items.

He then began being harassed by police, including in front of neighbors through physical roughing up or verbal abuses, Orieta told El Pais. In addition, he was systematically arrested, which is not uncommon for the poor youths in the area.

Finally, one day he disappeared.

Orieta said the family never reported the abuse or the unwarranted arrests because the poor families cannot stand up to a "mafia" like the police alone and do not have the resources to solicit an attorney.

But after finding out the truth about what happened to her brother, along with the assistance of a human rights organization, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, the family is ready to point fingers at the police.

Orieta did file a complaint initially following her brother's disappearance and, in it, accused eight police officers of torture and abduction, who were originally brought in as witnesses.

After some time and pressure -- and in what is likely a political move -- the men were taken off the force in 2013, but no allegations were ever brought as charges against the eight.

Related