Heavily Pregnant Woman Killed, Baby Abducted in Colombia
A 21-year-old pregnant woman was stabbed to death and her baby forcibly removed from her womb days after she announced she was expecting a girl. María Camila Potosí, eight months pregnant with her first child, was last seen riding on the back of a motorcycle in Polvorines, a town in Cali, Colombia, on July 16. Her body was discovered on Monday, July 20, about four miles from her home, covered in blankets and bearing multiple stab wounds, according to the Cali Metropolitan Police.
Police Suspect Multiple Perpetrators
General Herbert Benavídez, commander of the Cali Police, stated that more than four people may have been involved in the kidnapping and murder. Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder announced a reward of $62,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible and the location of the baby.
Mother’s Plea for Granddaughter’s Return
Potosí’s mother, Alba Gomez, made an emotional appeal through Colombian news outlet RCN Noticias for the safe return of her granddaughter, Alahia. “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 said. “I ask that the people who have her search their hearts and return her to me.”
Details of the Day of Disappearance
Potosí was at her boyfriend’s family home when she received a phone call from a woman later identified in a video as the motorcycle driver. The family reported that Potosí told them she was going with the woman to pick up baby gifts. She had recently met the woman at a Cali center for expectant mothers. Potosí’s sister, Juliana Meneses, told Univision news magazine Primer Impacto that Potosí also had an obstetrician appointment that day. The baby’s father “arrived to pick her up at … but he didn’t find her and started to get worried,” Meneses said. “We thought maybe she was getting her nails done.”
Ex-Boyfriend of Suspect Speaks Out
On Friday, Carlos Rincón posted a video on social media identifying himself as the female suspect’s former boyfriend. He revealed that the woman did not return to sleep at his home the day Potosí disappeared. Rincón also said his ex-girlfriend told him in January that she was pregnant. “I was excited about (her) pregnancy,” he said. “And 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. We had nothing to do with it. We knew nothing. My family was another victim. We trusted her, we believed in her.”
