Sunday May 7, 2023 | 2:30 p.m.
Relatives of Oscar Daniel Marecos (31), the missionary who was found dead and the victim of a homicide in a hotel room in Colombia last Friday, began a collection to raise funds that allow the body to be repatriated to Puerto Rico , town where he is from, so that they can carry out his burial.
“Any help will be well received and appreciated. My friend’s family must face this expense on their own since neither the Embassy nor the Foreign Ministry are responsible for it, ”said a close friend of the man on her social networks.
Then, the family published a flyer detailing the details of a digital bank account, stating that “the help will be used to cover the transportation expenses, legal procedures and funeral expenses that his family must face.” Anyone who wants to help can donate money to the alias cuerda.mulita.parque.
discovery of the corpse
While the family does everything possible to recover the body of the 31-year-old man, Colombian authorities confirmed that it was an employee of the ‘El Poblado’ hotel, who notified the authorities of the discovery of a body in one of the rooms of the establishment located in Medellin. According to sources in that country, the missionary had injuries to his neck and forearms, caused by a knife.
They also mentioned that the weapon that was used for the murder of the tourist was found at the site, as well as hallucinogenic substances and some of the victim’s belongings.
Although at first it was said that Marecos had entered the room alone, later, due to the evidence collected by the personnel responsible for the survey and investigation, information began to be sought to establish if someone else had entered the site.
The specialists stated that they were looking at the videos from the security cameras of the hotel and the El Poblado sector, to verify if the subject entered the place of his death accompanied, or indeed entered alone and then the perpetrators of the crime arrived.
Oscar Marecos had been staying at the hotel since Saturday, April 27, with Sunday the 30th being the last day he was heard from.
According to local media, Marecos rented the place through a lodging application and according to testimonies he planned to leave the accommodation on Monday, May 1, to visit Guatapé.
So far, the police authorities have not ruled out any specific hypothesis regarding the crime.
dangerous city for tourists
These types of crimes happen too much in the capital of Antioquia. Although the local authorities provide encouraging figures on the insecurity of the city, the truth is that foreign tourists continue to be one of the main targets of the unscrupulous.
From last year to date, 20 deaths of foreign tourists have been reported in the city. According to the Tourism Observatory of the Personería, violations against tourists in the city have increased 50% since 2022, with complaints of theft, scopolamine, armed robbery, fights, overdoses and poor post-surgical procedures.
According to figures from a study carried out by the Ombudsman, between April and August 2022 the violation of the Human Rights of foreign tourists in Medellín increased by 46%.
In figures
twenty
It is the total number of foreign tourists reported as deceased in the city of Medellín, from last year to date.
