Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/GoFundMe
CAUCA, Colombia—The lifeless body of California resident Paul Nguyen, 27, was found on a street corner in the seedy Cucaracho neighborhood of Medellín on the morning of Nov. 10. He had neither cash nor ID on him, but authorities knew who he was right away, as they’d been alerted to his disappearance and given his description the night before.
Nguyen was traveling with a friend on his first trip to Medellín, where he’d already visited the tomb of Pablo Escobar. The Cal State Fullerton grad was last seen on a date with a mysterious young woman he had met on the popular online dating app Tinder, according to local media reports. (Disclaimer: Tinder is owned by Match Group, which was formerly owned by The Daily Beast’s parent company, IAC).
Based on information leaked to The Daily Beast from Nguyen’s social media accounts and the woman’s dating profile, she appears to have gone by the name María Luisa, although that could have been an alias.