A pregnant mum-to-be was brutally stabbed and dumped on the roadside just days after joyfully revealing she was expecting a baby girl.
María Camila Potosí, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared after leaving for a routine antenatal check on 16 July.
The victim was found wrapped in sheets, bound hand and foot, with multiple stab wounds and clear signs of torture.
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Her body was found on the banks of the Meléndez River in Cali City, Colombia, on 20 July.
The unborn baby girl did not survive.
Forensic teams have already ruled out any attempt to remove the foetus.
Prior to her disappearance, María posted images of a gender-reveal gathering online.
She made the proud moment her WhatsApp profile picture and was busy preparing a baby shower with her husband at the time she vanished, as reported by Need To Know.
CCTV footage captured her final known movements that afternoon.
She climbed onto the back of a motorcycle ridden by a woman she met two months earlier through a local support scheme for pregnant women.
That rider has reportedly given changing accounts to investigators and remains a central focus of the inquiry.
Earlier in the day, María had helped care for a sick relative at her sister-in-law’s home in Meléndez before heading to her appointment.
She sent a quick message about a last-minute medical errand.
Her husband raised the alarm when she failed to return home.
Relatives remembered María as kind, innocent and overly trusting, a young woman whose greatest dream was simply to become a mother and build a family home.
The case is being investigated as a possible feminicide.
No arrests have been made yet.
Cali human rights ombudsman Gerardo Mendoza demanded a “swift, exhaustive investigation with a gender focus”.
He added that the “extreme gravity” of the crime “cannot go unpunished”.
Other senior figures have voiced public outrage.
Senator-elect Jennifer Pedraza wrote: “They kidnapped, tortured and murdered a 21-year-old pregnant woman.
“In this country, nothing happens. We demand justice.”
Former presidential candidate Sondra Macollins said: “What impotence this causes.
“We trust that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and police will deliver rigorous answers.”
Today, grieving relatives and neighbours held a wake in the Polvorines area.
The investigation into María’s death continues at pace.
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