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Authorities in South America have arrested three people in connection to the death of an American Airlines flight attendant who went missing in Medellín, Colombia, earlier this year during a crew layover.
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, announced in a post on X that two men were arrested in the death of Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen who was based out of Dallas-Fort Worth.
Medellín Mayor Federico Gutierrez also announced the arrest of a third suspect during a press conference on Friday, in which he detailed the investigation that uncovered a criminal organization accused of targeting foreigners through dating apps.
Andrés Felipe Peña Corrales, 23, and William Olave Gamboa, 31, were arrested in Peru after fleeing Colombia. The third suspect, María del Carmen González, 24, was arrested in Montería, Colombia. Peña was deported to Colombia to face charges and Olave is awaiting extradition.
Two men arrested in Peru in connection to the death of Eric Fernando Gutiérrez Molina.
According to Gutierrez, the three suspects are linked to an organization known as “Los Goteros,” a gang accused of targeting tourists through dating apps before drugging and robbing them.
Gutierrez Molina arrived in Medellín on Saturday, March 21, on a flight from Miami and was scheduled to return to the U.S. the following morning.
Gutierrez said authorities in Colombia, with the help of Homeland Security Investigations, learned Gutierrez Molina connected with the suspects through a dating app and decided to leave the hotel with a colleague to meet them at a nightclub in the El Poblado district. They were later taken to a motel where they were drugged with a chemical substance, according to Gutierrez.
While incapacitated, the suspects allegedly transferred nearly $10,000 out of his bank account and stole other valuables. Gutierrez said at some point during the scheme, Gutierrez Molina started waking up and became aware of what was happening to him, and that’s when the suspects killed him by “manual asphyxiation.”
“The killers then carried his life-less body out of the motel and dumped him way out in the Jericó area,” Gutierrez said. His body was found days later in a rural area between the Jericó and Puente Iglesias municipalities, in the northeast region of the country.
Gutierrez Molina’s female co-worker, meanwhile, was abandoned elsewhere in Medellín while still under the effects of the substance, authorities said. She returned to the hotel early and was said to be “disoriented,” Medellín Security Secretary Manuel Villa Mejía said in March.
Villa said investigators had identified the people last seen with Gutierrez, and that they had a history of committing theft using scopolamine, an incapacitating drug known as “devil’s breath,” with a history of being used in assaults in the country.
Peña and Olave were tracked down in Peru through the help of Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization. Both face charges of aggravated homicide and aggravated theft. Gonzalez is believed to be responsible for withdrawing funds from Gutierrez Molina’s account and has been charged with cyber theft-related crimes.
“From day one, we said that the killing of U.S. citizen Eric Fernando Gutiérrez would not go unpunished. Eric was drugged, rendered defenseless, murdered, and subsequently abandoned in a rural area of Jericó,” Mayor Gutierrez said.
He also expressed gratitude to the national and international authorities that helped on the case.
“Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Medellín Police, the prosecutor’s office, Interpol, Peruvian authorities, the U.S. Embassy, and HSI, this crime was solved, the criminal organization known as ‘Los Goteros’ was identified, and several of its alleged members were captured,” he added.
Gutiérrez’s family said on a GoFundMe post that he was born and raised in El Salvador before coming to the U.S. and becoming a citizen.
“His mother describes him as a person with a beautiful soul that was quickly recognized by anyone,” the family wrote.
“Ernesto, his partner of many years, will always remember and cherish the beautiful person he was,” the family wrote. “He was the sunshine in his life and will forever remember and cherish him.”
What is scopolamine?
According to the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, scopolamine has been used for years to carry out robberies of people targeted while visiting bars and nightclubs in Medellín, Cartagena and Bogotá.
The drug is a sedative that often leaves the victim disoriented, with no memory and sedated, “so they are easily robbed.”
The embassy said that if the drug is ingested or exposed, it can leave a victim unconscious for 24 hours or more and that overdoses can cause respiratory failure and death.
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