The reward leads to alleged murderers of Italian scientist whose dismembered body was found in Colombia, according to the police

The Colombian police said on Monday that a reward had taken them to the alleged murderers of an outstanding Italian scientist whose dismembered remains were found dispersed by the city of Caribbean Resort of Santa Marta in April.

Alessandro Coatti42, worked for the Royal Society of Biology of Britain as an officer of scientific policies whose work included testing the Parliament, before leaving that position in 2024 to travel in South America.

Part of his body was found in a suitcase on a riverbank on April 6. Other remains were found later in other places.

Coatti had arrived in Santa Marta, a city that acts as an entrance door to the idyllic beaches of the Caribbean of the Caribbean and the Sierra Nevada mountain range with snow, as a tourist.

Police said it was attracted to a gang that planned to steal it from an abandoned house in the city, through an appointment application for the LGBTQ community.

Time quoted a local hotel worker saying that Coatti was conducting research on local animals species and had asked about visiting the town of Mineca, about six miles southeast of Santa Marta.

The mayor of Santa Marta, Carlos Pinedo, said on Sunday that four suspicious people of his murder and dismemberment had been arrested in raids in the Colombian capital Bogotá, the second city of Medellin, as well as in Santa Marta and the city of Arjona, near the Port City of Cartagena.

At a press conference on Monday, Santa Marta police chief, Colonel Jaime Ríos, said the police had received a notice, which took them to a house where traces of blood were found.

“Through the hard research work, interviews were conducted, biological traces were collected that belonged to the victim and images of the security chamber were analyzed, which were key to solving the case,” he said.

The horrible murder of Coatti, described by colleagues from the Royal Society of Biology as a respected scientist, caused shock in Colombia.

“He was a passionate and dedicated scientist, leading the work of animal sciences of RSB, writing numerous presentations, organizing events and giving evidence in the House of Commons,” said the RSB in a statement after Coatti’s death. “Ale was fun, warm, intelligent, loved by all who worked, and will be surprised by all who knew and worked with him.”

Pinedo had offered a $ 12,000 reward for information that leads to the capture of his murderers.

Ríos said the reward had led to the progress in the investigation.

The mountains of Sierra Nevada house a paramilitary drug gang of drugs known as the “Sierra Nevada conquerors.”

It is not known if they had any hand in Coatti’s murder, but they have been linked to the murder and dismemberment of others in recent years.

• Colombia
• Italy
• Murder