Family members of the family tearfully commented, “We don’t understand what happened, we want answers.” Andrés Felipe Ariza, a 23-year-old young man, died under strange circumstances last Saturday, February 24, in a motel in Bogotá.
That day, Ariza had met a childhood friend for dinner in the T-Zone, the two constantly reporting to each other, telling each other what they were doing. But, No one heard from them after 9 o’clock at night and their families did not know what happened to them.
Uncertainty and anguish gripped their parents, as the teenagers – those close to them said – were always in trouble about their whereabouts. It wasn’t until the next morning Authorities reported that one of them died and the other was in the hospital.
The questions are increasing and none of them have answers. No one can understand how a meal could end so tragically.
“They went out to chat, to eat, because they hadn’t seen each other for years,” Tatiana Maldonado, Andrés Felipe’s cousin, told EL TIEMPO.
As far as is known, the two childhood friends were eating at a restaurant and drinking a few beers, “going forward”, as their relatives put it.
But on Sunday morning Andrés Felipe’s friend woke up dizzy and dazed on the floor of a room in the ‘Montana’ motel, in the town of Barrios Unidos. He stood up as best he could and searched for ‘Pipe’, whom he found in the house’s jacuzzi.
He searched his mobile phones to call for help, but could not find any of his belongings at the scene. Everything showed that they had been robbed. Therefore, the institution decided to ask for help from its employees. But it was too late: Andrés Felipe was already lifeless.
(
“Pipe was seeing her mother and talking on the phone the entire time. There was a lot of trust in us not knowing who he was with in the family,” the family member said in an interview with this newspaper.
Relatives cannot understand what happened to the young people and why they remained unconscious in that motel. No liquor bottles or items found to indicate they ‘went out to party’.
They remember Andrés Felipe as a happy person and lover of Vallenato, but also as hard-working and dedicated. He had graduated as a lawyer a little less than two years earlier and was working at a consulting firm..
He came from a close-knit Christian family, whom he trusted quite a bit and told them everything.
“We were surprised to know where it was and why it got to this point,” Maldonado emphasizes.
It is not known what happened to the young people who were in the restaurant around 21:00 on Saturday. and at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Andrés’ friend regained consciousness.
(You may be interested: This is the soldier who died after being shot by his friend in a military canton in Bogotá).
The hypothesis held by the families of those affected is that they were victims of a scopolamine theft case. Relatives claim that They were approached at the restaurant by a woman they suspected of supplying them with the substance.
They claim it was most likely this third party who took them out of the facility, into a car and to the motel.
“The people who go through this scopolamine story are either in very bad shape or have some problems. Or the people who can’t make it through the circumstances that Pipe is in,” Maldonado said.
“The prosecutor’s office continues the investigation because there is a woman involved. There is a woman, We expect the investigation to continue, but there is a woman involved“added.
But, They have no information about who the woman is and were unable to identify her by accessing security cameras in the area. They hope that by analyzing the records, the prosecutor’s office will know clearly under what circumstances they arrived at the scene and with whom.
On the other hand, they do not understand how this business can continue to operate normally and attract new customers after a lifeless body is found in the motel. They were unable to contact the administration to cooperate with the case, according to the complaint.
They also do not know the circumstances under which the young man’s body was found because his friend is hospitalized and, they claim, they have not yet been given a forensic examination or details of his body.
Were there signs of violence? Did he die from suffocation or an overdose of a substance administered to him? Who stole his papers, money and mobile phone? These are just some of the questions they cannot answer. reply.
And as if the pain they were going through wasn’t enough, the family was also affected by the ridicule or mean comments they received following Andrés Felipe’s death.
“There are bad comments and rumors that reach the mother and they affect her very much. We have gone through very critical days. There are people who say that she is using drugs or looking for friends. This is very difficult.” lamented Tatiana Maldonado, who asked for the name of her deceased cousin and the pain experienced by her loved ones to be respected.
Laura Avendaño Ladino
LATEST NEWS FROM THE EDITOR
Source: Exame
