A horrifying crime has rocked Cali, Colombia, after 21-year-old expectant mother María Camila Potosí was lured away following a routine check-up. Promises of free baby clothes from a female stranger led María to get on a motorcycle, only for her body to be discovered four days later by the Meléndez River, bound and stabbed. In a chilling twist, her 8-month unborn baby had been surgically stolen, triggering a massive search and a $62,000 reward.

María Camila Potosí Gómez was just weeks away from becoming a first-time mother. At eight months pregnant with a baby girl she planned to name Alahia, the young woman from the Polvorines sector in southwestern Cali lived with the ordinary hopes of any expectant parent. She had recently attended sessions at a community center for pregnant women, where she crossed paths with another young woman who would later become the last person known to have seen her alive.

On the morning of July 16, 2026, María Camila was at the home of her boyfriend’s family. She received a phone call. According to relatives, the caller was the woman she had met at the prenatal community program. The offer sounded generous and timely: free baby clothes and gifts. María Camila told her family she was going to collect them. She also had a prenatal check-up scheduled that day. She climbed onto the back of a motorcycle driven by the other woman and rode away. Security cameras captured the pair leaving the Polvorines area. It was the last confirmed sighting of María Camila alive.

When she failed to return, concern quickly escalated. Her partner arrived to pick her up and could not find her. Family members initially wondered whether she had simply stopped somewhere else—perhaps for a manicure or an errand. By the end of the day, the absence felt wrong. Authorities activated the urgent search mechanism and issued a pink alert for a missing pregnant woman. For four days, relatives and police combed the city while the family clung to hope that María Camila and her unborn daughter would come home.

On the afternoon of July 20, that hope was shattered. Police discovered the body of a young woman beside the Meléndez River at kilometer 3 on the road toward the rural corregimiento of La Buitrera, roughly four to six kilometers from María Camila’s neighborhood. The remains were partially covered by blankets. Her limbs had been bound. She bore multiple stab wounds. Most devastating of all, the baby she had been carrying was gone—surgically removed from her womb. Preliminary identification based on physical features and clothing confirmed it was María Camila. The infant, expected in August, remains missing.

The discovery sent shockwaves through Cali and across Colombia. News of a pregnant woman murdered and her nearly full-term baby taken from her body dominated headlines and social media. Residents described the crime as monstrous. Family members, friends, and neighbors later marched through the streets of Polvorines and other parts of the city, carrying white balloons and banners, demanding justice for María Camila and the safe return of Alahia. “We want Alahia alive,” they chanted.

Investigators rapidly zeroed in on the woman who had driven the motorcycle. Security footage and community information identified her as Yulieth (also referred to as Julieth or Yulieth Angulo). She had been the last person seen with the victim. Reports indicated she was eventually identified and turned over or located with the assistance of her own relatives, including an ex-partner and former mother-in-law. The ex-boyfriend publicly stated that Yulieth had claimed to be pregnant on two occasions, once telling him in January that she was expecting a child. He denied any involvement by himself or his family and said they too felt victimized by the deception.

Cali Metropolitan Police commander Gen. Herbert Benavídez stated that evidence pointed to the possible participation of more than four people in the kidnapping and killing. Authorities have kept many operational details under judicial reserve to protect the investigation. One of the central hypotheses under examination is that the crime was linked to the theft of the baby, potentially for trafficking or to pass the child off as someone else’s. The Fiscalía continues to pursue multiple lines of inquiry.

In response to public outrage, Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder significantly increased the reward offered for information leading to the identification and capture of those responsible. The sum was raised from 50 million to 200 million Colombian pesos—approximately $62,000 USD. The mayor emphasized that the reward also aimed to help locate the missing baby.

María Camila’s mother, Alba Rubí Potosí (also referred to in some reports as Alba Gómez), has issued emotional public pleas. She has asked those holding her granddaughter to search their consciences and return the child. “The only thing I ask… is for her to be found,” she said. “I ask that the people who have her search their hearts and return her to me.” The family has maintained that forensic findings indicated the baby was removed after the mother’s death, intensifying their determination to recover Alahia alive if possible.

The case has exposed raw nerves in a country long plagued by high rates of violence against women. Commentators and women’s rights advocates noted that the killing of a pregnant woman and the apparent theft of her child represent an extreme form of gender-based violence. Political figures from both outgoing and incoming administrations faced criticism for slow or muted public responses in the immediate aftermath. Local officials in Cali, however, moved quickly to raise the reward and coordinate with national prosecutors.

As of late July 2026, the investigation remains active. Police and the Fiscalía continue analyzing CCTV footage, telephone records, forensic evidence from the riverside scene, and statements from people connected to both the victim and the primary person of interest. Residents of Cali have been urged to come forward with any information, no matter how small it may seem. The combination of a $62,000 reward and intense media scrutiny has kept pressure on authorities to produce concrete results.

What began as an ordinary day—a prenatal appointment and the promise of free baby clothes—ended in one of the most disturbing crimes Colombia has seen in recent years. María Camila Potosí never got to hold her daughter. Her family continues to wait for answers about who planned the trap, who carried it out, and above all, where Alahia is. Until those questions are resolved, the case of the young mother found bound and stabbed by the Meléndez River will remain a source of national horror and unresolved grief.

The disturbing clue that first drew investigators toward a possible motive remains the calculated offer of free baby gifts—an invitation that transformed a routine errand into a fatal journey. Authorities are still piecing together exactly how that promise was used, who else may have been involved, and whether the baby’s removal was the primary objective from the start. For María Camila’s family, every day without answers is another day of anguish. For the people of Cali, the case stands as a grim reminder of how quickly trust and vulnerability can be exploited.