The niece of a woman who was allegedly killed after traveling to meet a man she fell in love with online has shared a screenshot of a message that sparked fears for her safety.
Blanca Arellano, 51, flew 3,000 miles from her home in Mexico City to Lima, Peru, to meet 37-year-old human medicine and biotechnology student Juan Pablo Jesus Villafuerte Pinto - whom she had been romantically involved with for several months after meeting him online, as previously reported.
The pair allegedly met on a dating app and quickly formed a relationship. One week after she traveled to Lima to be with Pinto, Arellano contacted her niece back in Mexico to tell her that she'd fallen in love with Pinto. Soon afterward, however, her family was unable to contact her.
As a result, Arellano's niece Karla took to social media to ask if the public had any idea about her aunt's whereabouts, with her posts being shared thousands of times.
"Monday, November 07 was the day that for most of us who know her, she stopped having contact on social networks. I decided to communicate with [Pinto] since he was the only contact she had in that country and that is where our fear was triggered," she tweeted, accompanied by a screenshot of a message she had sent to Pinto regarding her aunt's disappearance.
In that Facebook Messenger exchange, Karla asked Pinto whether her aunt was okay, as she had not been in communication with her family in Mexico. Though, it was Pinto's odd response that raised concerns.
Pinto replied (translated to English): "Hello, the truth is I haven't known anything for several days. [Arellano] decided to leave by mutual agreement, I couldn't give her the life that she wanted and well, in other words, she got bored of me. She went to Lima to look for a ticket to Mexico. That's where my part ended [...] I hope you're doing well. I don't know anything else."
He also added that perhaps Arellano's SIM card or battery stopped working, and that this might be a reason why she was not responding.
Authorities in Peru had launched an investigation into Arellano's whereabouts, and soon a severed human finger was discovered washed up on a beach. The finger was still wearing a silver ring yet the tip was apparently missing.
Gradually, several more body parts washed up on the same beach - in close proximity to Pinto's home - that included a faceless head and a torso with no organs, The Daily Mail reported.
Police eventually linked the silver ring to Arellano, thus identifying the body parts as belonging to her. They also revealed that the face had been removed from the head with surgical instruments, and that a canal close to Pinto's university led to the beach.
Per Latina Noticias, police arrested Pinto on November 17 on charges of human trafficking. Investigators had found Arellano's blood at his home, and Pinto allegedly posted videos to TikTok of her organs following her disappearance.
Pinto has denied all charges, but remains in police custody while the murder investigation continues.
