Security cameras from a business near his lodging captured the final known moments of Gustavo Javier Rodríguez Meléndez, a 53-year-old Puerto Rican technology consultant found dead in his hotel room in the Laureles neighborhood of Medellín, Colombia. Footage published by the news portal QHubo Medallo shows him arriving at a nearby business around 9:44 PM on Saturday, October 17, to pick up his wallet; an employee spoke with him and returned his belongings, and he left at 9:45 PM. Colombian media reported the room was disordered and several of his possessions missing.
Rodríguez Meléndez arrived in Colombia on Friday and had planned to meet a friend that night in the La 70 entertainment district; preliminary information indicates he returned to his lodging Sunday morning, after which relatives lost contact with him. Authorities are examining the hypothesis that he was given a substance that could have caused his death, with scopolamine, used illicitly to drug people, among those mentioned.
His case adds to other tourist deaths in Medellín in October; according to El Colombiano, at least 25 tourists have died in the Valle de Aburrá in 2026, and he would be the fourth foreigner to die in October. The Puerto Rico Department of State’s Daphne Febres confirmed Tuesday that no family members had contacted the agency directly, though communication was sent to the Colombian consulate.