A 21-year-old pregnant woman was found murdered with her unborn baby missing days after she disappeared on her way to a routine antenatal appointment in Cali, Colombia.
María Camila Potosí, who was eight months pregnant, was last seen on July 16 after leaving home for a medical check-up. She never returned, prompting her husband to report her missing.
Her body was discovered on Monday, wrapped in sheets and hidden beneath a pile of blankets about four miles from her home.
Police said the victim had been stabbed multiple times, with her hands and feet bound. Investigators also found signs of torture and discovered that her unborn baby had been cut from her womb.
Authorities are continuing their search for the missing baby girl.
CCTV footage captured María’s final known movements, showing her riding away on a motorcycle driven by a woman she had reportedly met two months earlier through a support programme for pregnant women.
The woman has reportedly given inconsistent statements to investigators and remains a key person in the ongoing investigation.
Earlier that day, María had visited a relative before informing her mother that she needed to make an additional medical stop. Her family became concerned after she failed to return home.
Just days before her disappearance, María had shared photos from her gender reveal celebration, where she and her husband announced they were expecting a baby girl. She was only weeks away from giving birth.
Her mother, Alba Gomez, has pleaded for those responsible to return the baby, saying she still believes her granddaughter is alive.
The case is being investigated as a suspected femicide, although no arrests have been made. Colombian officials and political leaders have called for a swift and thorough investigation to bring those responsible to justice.
