A Dutch tourist whose body was discovered floating in a lake on 31 May in the municipality of Salento, in the west-central department of Quindio, was indeed murdered, according to investigators.
The 41-year-old tourist, Marlies Genz, disappeared on the afternoon of 25 May after leaving her hotel alone to take a walking coffee tour of a plantation in a rural area of Salento, about an hour’s walk from her lodging.
She was reportedly last seen entering a restaurant to ask for directions to the coffee farm.
She never arrived for the tour, prompting local authorities to launch a widespread search after hotel employees reported her disappearance on 27 May when she failed to check out.
Her body was found floating in a lake in the village of Palestina, a rural community in Salento.
Although authorities initially speculated that Genz’s death may have been accidental, such as the result of a fall or drowning, they announced last week that she had been physically assaulted prior to her death.
Police have been reviewing security camera footage of the woman after she left the hotel to determine whether she was followed.
The attack was most likely a robbery or sexual assault carried out by an opportunistic assailant or group of assailants.
Authorities in Quindio are offering a 30-million-peso ($8,370) reward for information related to Genz’s death.
Quindio, along with the neighboring departments of Caldas and Risaralda, forms the historic epicenter of Colombia’s coffee-producing heartland and has become increasingly popular with ecotourists and backpackers who participate in guided plantation tours, mountain hikes and other sightseeing activities.
Traveling alone to rural areas of Colombia is always a high-risk proposition, especially for women.
Visitors who insist on traveling to rural areas should do so only in organized tour groups, often with armed security escorts and fresh intelligence on places to be visited.
