Four people, including a 19-year-old woman, are now arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of an American community leader and comedian who was allegedly lured to death in Colombia.
Tou Ger Xiong, 50, a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota, was found dead in Medellín on December 11, a day after he went on a date with Sharit Mejía.
Mejía and his accomplices, Santiago Bustamante, 25, and Andrés Hincapía, 36, were arrested last Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic reported this Thursday in a statement.
A 17-year-old boy, whose name is not being released due to his age, was arrested Wednesday.
Andrés Hincapié (second from left), Santiago Bustamante (third from right) and Sharit Mejía (second from right) were arrested Tuesday in Medellín, Colombia, in connection with the murder of Minnesota resident Tou Ger Xiong, who was kidnapped on December 10, 2023 and found dead the next day
American comedian and community activist Tou Ger Xiong was lured to his death in Medellín, Colombia, in December by a 19-year-old woman he met on social media.
The defendants are being accused of aggravated extortionate kidnapping and aggravated homicide.
“We know he can’t bring Tou Ger back, but we also have a sense of justice,” Xiong’s brother, Eh Xiong, told CBS affiliate WCOO.
Prosecutors said Tou Ger Xiong went to Mejía’s home in the Robledo neighborhood of Medellín before being kidnapped.
His captors contacted his friend in the United States demanding $2,000 to secure his release before murdering him.
Xiong’s Facebook contained a video clip of a dinner he had with Mejía last October.
Colombian police officers read Andrés Hincapié his rights while arresting him on Tuesday in Medellín
Police in Medellín, Colombia, arrested Sharit Mejía on Tuesday for her role in the murder of American comedian Tou Ger Xiong.
Santiago Bustamante is among four suspects, including a 17-year-old, who were arrested in Medellín, Colombia, on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Tou Ger Xiong in December 2023.
‘This is Korean food with my girl,’ the victim was heard saying behind the cell phone camera.
Xiong also shared a video of him attending a concert by Colombian singer Karol G just a week before his death. Mejía appears briefly in the 31-second recording.
Eh Xiong said he previously interacted with Mejía and was shocked by his participation.
“To have that kind of betrayal breaks my heart,” she said. “If they could do this to my brother, they can do it to someone else.”
The deaths of Xiong and seven other American men between November 1 and December 31, 2023 led the US State Department to issue a warning against the use of dating apps in Colombia.
The US government called the deaths “suspicious,” pointing “to possible drugs, robberies and overdoses, and several involve the use of online dating apps.”
The advisory warned Americans that if they are meeting a stranger for the first time, “they should seriously consider meeting only in public places and avoiding isolated places, such as residences or hotel rooms, where crimes are more likely to occur.”
It is also recommended that if Americans decide to invite a person they met to a home or hotel, they speak with the attendant/concierge beforehand and establish a policy on what information their new visitor must provide before they are allowed entry (photo identification). , etc.) and what process should be followed when the visitor leaves.’