{"id":116951,"date":"2025-05-20T11:37:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T11:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/116951\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T11:37:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T11:37:19","slug":"london-based-scientist-was-lured-into-a-honeytrap-through-dating-app-grindr-before-he-was-brutally-dismembered-in-colombia-police-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/116951\/","title":{"rendered":"London-based scientist was lured into a honeytrap through dating app Grindr before he was brutally dismembered in Colombia, police fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

A London-based scientist who was found dismembered in Colombia is feared to have been lured to his violent death through the gay dating app Grindr<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The body of 38-year-old\u00a0Alessandro Coatti, an Italian scientist working in London<\/a>, was found across several different locations in the coastal city of Santa Marta on April 6, two days after he was reported missing.<\/p>\n

His torso was found miles away from his dismembered legs, head, hands and feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cops had wildly varying theories as to how the scientist, who previously worked at the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) for eight years as a senior policy officer, was murdered, ranging from a case of mistaken identity between battling cartels to a kidnapping at the hands of organ traffickers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But now cops believe that Coatti, who was in the region as a tourist, was the victim of a gang that targeted foreigners looking for dates abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources told a Colombian newspaper that he may have been lured to an abandoned house in the San Jos\u00e9 del Pando neighbourhood of\u00a0Santa Marta after messaging someone over the dating app.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources added that the gang planned to drug him with scopolamine, better known as Devil’s Breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the drug can help alleviate motion sickness in small doses, it can disorient and knock people out in larger doses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The remains of Alessandro Coatti (pictured), 42, were found across Santa Marta, a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast<\/p>\n

\"Alessandro <\/p>\n

Alessandro Coatti\u2019s head, hands and feet were found in a black suitcase while other parts were discovered wrapped in a bin bag floating in a river (Pictured: police investigating)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

There is even the risk of paralysis if not administered with the correct dose.<\/p>\n

Cops have reportedly identified at least four people, including a woman, believed to have been involved in the scheme.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Coatti’s head, hands and feet were found in a suitcase near the Sierra\u00a0Nevada<\/a> stadium on April 6, two days after he was last seen leaving his hotel by the coast.<\/p>\n

His\u00a0torso and other body parts were then found near the Minuto de Dios bridge a day later, before his legs were found in a coffee sack near the stadium on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Coatti, originally from Longastrino, Ravenna, was visiting the country in the hopes of one day moving there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His uncle, Giovanni Coatti, previously said of his nephew: ‘He wanted to go and live in South America so he went for a trip to see; he was supposed to be back next week.’<\/p>\n

The molecular biologist had left the Royal Society of Biology in 2024 to volunteer in Ecuador and travel to South America.<\/p>\n

While in Colombia, he had asked about the local area, showing interest in learning about the local fauna and vegetation, Agenzia Nova reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Investigators believe he had taken the evening of April 4 to go to a local club before vanishing.<\/p>\n

\"Coatti <\/p>\n

Coatti (left) was among Royal Society of Biology representatives who appeared before Parliament in June 2022<\/p>\n

\"Police <\/p>\n

Police at the scene where Coatti’s body was found\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Coatti, <\/p>\n

Coatti, who worked for the Royal Society of Biology, left London at the end of 2024 to volunteer in Ecuador and travel in South America<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The mayor of Santa Marta (pictured), Carlos Pinedo Cuello, said authorities had offered a reward of nearly \u00a39,000 for information that leads to the capture of those responsible<\/p>\n

They are still working to understand whether or not he ever arrived, scouring CCTV and phone records.<\/p>\n

According to his uncle, he would not have been an obvious target for thieves.<\/p>\n

‘He never had much money in his pockets, or a watch or other precious objects,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘All he had was a new mobile phone to take pictures but even that was a cheap one.’<\/p>\n

A parallel investigation has also been opened in Italy and his parents have handed over devices containing his last messages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local human rights activist Norma Vera Salazar said there have been 13 similar murders in the region in the last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the first time the victim is a foreign tourist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The country, long riddled with paramilitary violence and cartel feuds, remains dangerous for tourists, and the FCDO advises <\/a>against\u00a0all but essential travel to the\u00a0Colombia-Venezuela border and northern Colombia.<\/p>\n

Salazar warned of a ‘pattern’ in recent murders where people have been found dismembered and ‘stuffed into garbage bags or coffee sacks and abandoned’.<\/p>\n

‘These types of homicides are used by vigilante groups to send warning messages, instill fear, and mark their territory.’<\/p>\n

‘Usually this is a way to send a message,’ Victor Polo, a journalist for Santa Marta’s Caracol Radio, echoed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A London-based scientist who was found dismembered in Colombia is feared to have been lured to his violent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,25911,92,393,4884,16550,257,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-116951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-colombia","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-grindr","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114539963674511926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}