A Mexican woman who flew 3,000 miles to Peru to meet a man she met online was allegedly killed and dismembered for her organs.
As reported by Vice and several Spanish-language outlets including El País, 51-year-old Blanca Arellano flew 3,000 miles from Mexico City to Lima to meet her lover, 37-year-old Juan Pablo Jesus Villafuerte Pinto.
Arellano met the human medicine and biotechnology student on a dating app and had been in an online relationship with him for several months.
After spending a week with Villafuerte, Arellano told her niece, Karla Arellano, that she had fallen for him. However, she soon went missing, with her family unable to contact her.
Read Arellano's niece's tweets below:Due to her sudden disappearance and lack of online connection, Arellano's family became worried about her, so her worried niece took to social media for help.
"I never thought I would be in this situation, today I ask for support and dissemination to locate one of the most loved and important people in my life," Karla wrote (translated to English).
"My aunt Blanca Olivia Arellano Gutiérrez disappeared on Monday, November 7 in Peru, she is of Mexican origin, and we fear for her life," she added, explaining how she had contacted Villafuerte to ask him if he had heard from her.
In the conversation screenshot, Villafuerte had claimed to the niece that Arellano got bored of him as he couldn't give her the life she wanted so her aunt had left to return to Mexico.
Peruvian authorities launched an investigation after the post was shared thousands of times. On November 9, Arellano's family's worst fears were confirmed after they made an ugly discovery: a severed finger on the beach of Huacho.
According to investigators, the fingertip had been removed and it still had a silver ring on it. A day later, authorities discovered a faceless head - again on the beach near to where Villafuerte had been living - and then an arm.
The next day a torso without any organs inside also appeared on the same beach. Authorities identified Arellano through the ring on the finger that was recovered.
Furthermore, investigators quickly found that the canal passes in front of Jose Faustino Sanchez Carrion National University, where Villafuerte is a student.
According to Daily Mail, forensic experts had also decided that the victim's face had been removed by someone experienced with surgical instruments.
On November 17, Peruvian law enforcement arrested Villafuerte as the main suspect in Arellano's murder on "charges of human organs trafficking," as well as femicide, per Latina Noticias.
Investigators also found traces of Arellano's blood throughout his apartment, and he had also reportedly posted videos of her organs to TikTok, days after her disappearance.
Villafuerte denies his involvement in the crime and remains in police custody as the investigation continues.