Gustavo Javier Rodríguez Meléndez, a 53-year-old Puerto Rican man who was a frequent visitor to Medellín, Colombia, was found dead on Monday, October 19, in a room at a tourist lodging in the Laureles neighborhood, a room that Colombian media reported was disordered and from which several of his belongings were apparently missing. Rodríguez had last been seen on the night of Saturday, October 17, when he went out to the La 70 area, a zone of restaurants and nightclubs about a five-minute walk from the lodging, to meet an acquaintance, according to El Tiempo.
He returned to the lodging in the San Joaquín sector on Sunday morning, after which all communication with him was lost. His partner contacted the driver who transported him around the city; after the Puerto Rican failed to answer calls, the driver pressed hotel staff, who entered the room and found him without signs of life around 9:00 AM. Colombian authorities are reviewing security cameras to reconstruct his final movements, and initial examinations would point to Rodríguez having died after receiving a substance, per El Tiempo.
A police report states officers found him lying on the floor with a blanket over him. Colombian media report his death raises to at least 25 the number of foreigners who have died in the Valle de Aburrá, four in October, and is the fourth foreigner killed in the zone. El Nuevo Día contacted the Puerto Rico Department of State, which has yet to respond.