The story of the Colombian lender who was kidnapped and cremated in Argentina

Three months ago Giovani Herrera León traveled from Colombia to Argentina. The 44-year-old man arrived with his sister to the country of the southern cone and settled in the city of Venado Tuerto in the Province of Santa Fe.

According to local media reports, Herrera León was a lender who had recently settled in the region. Early investigations determined that the cause of death was due to asphyxiation and it is believed that his body was incinerated to prevent it from being identified. The lifeless body was found early this Wednesday.

Before the tragic outcome, Sandra Herrera León, the victim's sister, had received several calls from the kidnappers, asking for a sum of one million pesos in Argentine currency (about 33 million Colombian pesos), for the release of her family member.

The local radio station Radio Jota FM 98.3 reported that the woman initially ignored the alleged extortion, “thinking that it was one of many telephone hoaxes, but then with the passage of time and seeing that her brother did not appear, she decided to file the report of disappearance”.

According to Sandra, her brother was in charge of touring shops and charging debtors. In that context, on Tuesday, around 4 in the afternoon, he went out to do his errands with his sister's motorcycle, a black Honda Wave. It was the last time she saw him alive.

According to the newspaper La Capital, the man was “lifted” on his own motorcycle and taken to a place where they made the ransom demand. The motives are still unknown, but shortly thereafter the criminals suffocated the victim. Later, the body was taken to Esteban Maradona and Chaco streets.

Police authorities in Argentina, after finding the body of Herrera León, captured a 22-year-old person identified as Naheul Durán, who was mobilizing on the motorcycle on which the Colombian was used to ride.

Subsequently, after his arrest, the authorities went to the prisoner's home, where they arrested his father, Luis Marcelo Durán, 49, and another person who goes by the name of 27-year-old Aldo Joaquín Vergara. In the break-in of the house they found a shotgun and a 32-caliber pistol. Investigations would indicate that one of them carried out the murder.

In principle, it was presumed that the case could be passed to the Argentine Federal Justice, since the case would be characterized as extortive kidnapping followed by death. But regional prosecutor Matías Merlo confirmed that what they are investigating is a case of unlawful deprivation of liberty followed by homicide. Consequently, the Public Prosecutor's Office will continue to investigate, which will charge the accused in the coming days.

According to Sandra, her brother had no friends in Venado Tuerto, given the short time of his stay in the country. She sowed suspicion in a man of Colombian nationality who lived in the city and recently returned to her country. This person worked with Sandra: he was in charge of the collection of the loans until Giovani arrived and took his place.

According to the Argentine media outlet TN, investigators believe that another suspect, also of Colombian nationality, participated in the kidnapping and crime, who would be the mastermind of the act and would no longer be in Argentina, but in his country of origin. According to the Argentine mediator, one of the defendants confessed to the Colombian crime.

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