Colombia in Shock: Baby Cut from Pregnant Woman's Womb After She Was Stabbed to Death

For four days, authorities in Colombia searched for 21-year-old María Camila Potosí, who was eight months pregnant and had gone missing — until on July 21 her body was found dumped near a river close to the mountain village of La Buitrera, not far from the city of Cali.

According to the Colombian outlet El Colombiano, the woman's body, wrapped in a bedsheet, bore multiple stab wounds, and her abdomen had been cut open — the unknown attacker had removed her unborn child. The baby girl, whom her parents had already named Alaia, was due to be born on August 12.

Police and Cali Mayor Alejandro Éder, the city where the victim was from, announced a reward of 200 million Colombian pesos (roughly 1.3 million CZK) for information leading to the perpetrators.

Investigators released CCTV footage showing María, on the day she vanished, climbing onto a motorcycle as a passenger, driven by an acquaintance who, according to the investigation, had picked her up from the home of her boyfriend's family.

Following a police appeal, the former partner of the motorcycle driver, Carlos Rincón, came forward. He told investigators that on the night María disappeared, his girlfriend did not come home and failed to respond to messages, only reappearing the next day acting as though nothing had happened.

According to Rincón, the suspect had twice faked her own pregnancy, claiming she had suffered a miscarriage. Police questioned her but subsequently released her. The woman admitted to giving María a ride on the motorcycle and dropping her off somewhere, though she gave conflicting accounts of the exact location.

Rincón himself later posted a video statement on social media, insisting his family had nothing to do with María's disappearance and that his ex-partner was responsible. "We ourselves reported her to the police once we learned of her involvement in an event that has shaken all of Cali," he said, adding that he felt compelled to speak out publicly after receiving a wave of threats, including one to burn down his family's house.

General Herbert Benavides, commander of Cali's metropolitan police, told the TV channel RCN Noticias that the investigation is proceeding along several lines and no arrests have been made so far. He confirmed only that police are looking into the involvement of one woman and at least four other people, without disclosing further details.

Prosecutors have classified the crime as kidnapping, torture, murder and destruction of evidence.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz