A missing tourist found dead on a highway has been confirmed as the latest victim of a “Goodnight, Cinderella” scam.
Father-of-two Alejandro Mario Ainsworth vanished after leaving his hotel.
The 54-year-old’s body was discovered the next day with no signs of violence.
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The scam involves women using Rohypnol, GHB, or other date-rape drugs being used to knock victims out before they are robbed or assaulted.
Alejandro went missing from the Copacabana area of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, on 7 September.
His body was found on the Grota Funda highway, near a favela, as reported by Need To Know.
Detectives say the Argentine was almost certainly targeted in a Goodnight, Cinderella attack.
Within hours of his disappearance, crooks began draining his bank accounts – making withdrawals, changing passwords, and even taking out loans worth thousands of pounds.
His son Alan told local media he believes his father was kidnapped and that the scammers were “using his face” for biometric ID to approve transactions.
Yesterday (15 Sept), a suspect was tracked down and arrested in São Paulo.
Police identified Vítor dos Santos Oliveira on CCTV accompanying Alejandro as he left a Copacabana nightclub in the early hours of 8 September.
Later that morning, he was filmed at a petrol station using one of the victim’s cards.
Alejandro, originally from Campana and living in Buenos Aires, worked as an administrative manager for a laboratory chain.
He leaves behind two children, aged 22 and 24.
He is the third person to die in a Goodnight, Cinderella case in Rio in just over a year.
In August last year, D’wayne Antonio Morris, 43, a Jamaican with US citizenship, was found dead in a flat.
Police suspect the women drugged him and a friend before robbing them.
At least one suspect has been identified.
Two months later, Manuel Felipe Martínez Mantilla, a Colombian government macroeconomics adviser, collapsed and died while in Rio for a conference.
A woman accused of leading the gang that targeted the 33-year-old was later arrested.
Not all cases ended in death, but several have made headlines abroad.
In August this year, a British student was filmed staggering and collapsing on the sand at Ipanema Beach after drinking a spiked caipirinha.
He and a friend lost thousands of pounds.
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