A 21-year-old pregnant woman was found stabbed to death in Colombia, and authorities are now desperately searching for her missing baby in a case that has horrified the country.
María Camila Potosí, who was eight months pregnant and just weeks away from giving birth to her first child, was last seen on July 16 riding on the back of a motorcycle in Polvorines, a neighborhood in the southwestern city of Cali.
Her body was discovered Monday about four miles from her home. Cali Metropolitan Police said she had suffered multiple stab wounds and had been wrapped in several blankets.
Authorities believe her unborn baby was removed from her body before she was found.
Investigators are now trying to locate the child, whom the family had planned to name Alahia, while searching for everyone involved in Potosí’s disappearance and killing.
Gen. Herbert Benavídez, commander of the Cali Police, said more than four people may have participated in the alleged kidnapping and murder.
Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder announced a reward equivalent to approximately $62,000 for information leading to the arrests of those responsible and the recovery of the missing baby.
Potosí’s mother, Alba Gomez, made an emotional public appeal to anyone who may know where her granddaughter is being held.
“The only thing I ask with this appeal and with the hopeful faith I hold that my baby is alive is for her to be found,” Gomez told Colombian outlet RCN Noticias.
“I ask that the people who have her search their hearts and return her to me.”
According to the family, Potosí was visiting relatives of her boyfriend when she received a phone call from a woman later seen driving the motorcycle in surveillance footage.
Potosí reportedly told the family she was leaving with the woman to pick up gifts for her baby. She had recently met the woman at a Cali center for expectant mothers.
Her sister, Juliana Meneses, told Univision’s Primer Impacto that Potosí was also scheduled to attend an appointment with her obstetrician that day.
Potosí’s boyfriend later arrived to pick her up but could not find her.
“He arrived to pick her up, but he didn’t find her and started to get worried,” Meneses said. “We thought maybe she was getting her nails done.”
The investigation took another turn Friday when Carlos Rincón posted a video on social media identifying himself as the former boyfriend of the woman suspected of driving the motorcycle.
Rincón said the woman did not return to his home on the night Potosí disappeared. He also claimed she had told him in January that she was pregnant.
“I was excited about her pregnancy,” he said.
Rincón denied knowing anything about Potosí’s disappearance or death and said his family had also been deceived.
“Many people think I had something to do with it — the kidnapping and murder of the 21-year-old woman — because I had been the motorcyclist’s partner,” he said. “We had nothing to do with it. We knew nothing. My family was another victim. We trusted her, we believed in her.”
Police have not announced any arrests or released the identities of the suspects. A department spokesperson said the investigation remains active and declined to provide further details.