After the United States Embassy in Colombia warned last month of recent suspicious drug-related deaths and possible homicides of Americans visiting the South American country, three U.S. tourists have reportedly died in Medellín within a five-day span.
One of them, a 47-year-old Black man named Dakarai Earl Cobb, had been staying in a room in the city’s Santa Lucía neighborhood but had gone missing for two days, reported Spanish-language website El País on Feb. 7.
As the concerned owners of Cobb’s room checked on him, they opened the door to find him dead, according to the outlet. Authorities said in the hours following the discovery of Cobb’s body on the night of Feb. 5, they realized he was missing several personal items, including his credit cards, cell phone, and passport, El País reported.
The owner of the room told newspaper El Colombiano, “The man had been there for a month, nothing more, and we rented it because they asked us for a favor because he was coming to stay for about a month, nothing more. The man did not respond further when we left the room, and when we found him, the man was dead.”
Forensic investigators are looking into exactly how his death happened, according to the outlet.
Another U.S. tourist, Anthony G. López, 29, was recently found dead in a hotel in Medellín in the city’s Laureles neighborhood.
Manley Mark Conlen, 37, died in the La Aguacatala of Medellín after a fall from the 17th floor of the building where his Airbnb was located, El Colombiano reported.
The deaths follow a startling recent rise in the phenomenon of robberies and overdoses in Colombia, often involving U.S. citizens and, in some cases, including the use of online dating apps, Atlanta Black Star reported last month.
The U.S. Embassy reported eight suspicious deaths of U.S. citizens in Medellín between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 of last year.
Criminals are known to lure victims with dating apps like Tinder and Bumble to bars, hotels, and restaurants with the intent of assaulting, robbing, and even killing them, according to the Embassy.
“At this time, it is not believed these deaths are linked as each involved distinct circumstances, however several of the deaths point to possible drugging, robbery and overdose and several involve the use of online dating applications,” the Embassy said in a news release last month.
There was a reported 200 percent spike in thefts against foreigners, excluding Venezuelans, toward the end of last year, while violent deaths against foreign visitors to Colombia rose by 29 percent, with U.S. citizens comprising most of those deaths, according to the Embassy.
The Colombian government recently acknowledged the appeal of sex tourism in the country, where prostitution is legal in many of its larger cities while discouraging travelers from visiting with that goal in mind.
“We want more and more foreigners to come, but we want them to take part in tourism that adds value,” said Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Anyone who thinks they can come here for that sex and drugs tourism, we don’t want any of that here.”
