An unsettling murder investigation has been launched in Argentina after the dismembered remains of millionaire Fernando Pérez Algaba, 41, were discovered by children in Argentina over the weekend.
Last Sunday, a group of kids stumbled upon a red suitcase containing body parts while playing near a stream in the town of Ingeniero Budge, Buenos Aires Province, as reported by Jam Press.
Upon the children’s parents alerting the Buenos Aires police, body parts including legs and a forearm were found inside the suitcase, with another arm discovered in the stream.
The missing head and torso of Algaba were discovered on Wednesday, according to El País. Reports from local media suggested that the body parts were cleanly amputated, indicating the involvement of a professional.
Subsequent autopsy results revealed that the victim had been shot three times before the dismemberment.
Authorities were able to identify Algaba through his fingerprints and unique tattoos on his body parts. Allegedly, the entrepreneur had been missing since the previous Tuesday.
The businessman had amassed wealth through luxury vehicle rentals and cryptocurrency sales, which he frequently promoted to his 900,000 Instagram followers.
The influencer, who resided in Barcelona, Spain, had reportedly been staying in Argentina for a week before his alleged murder.
Algaba had rented an apartment and was expected to return the keys on July 19, but he failed to show up or respond to calls from the property owner.
One suspect has been arrested in connection with Algaba’s death. Although the motive behind the alleged murder remains unclear, authorities suspect that the influencer may have been killed over his significant debts.
This marked a tragic end for the businessman, known by friends as Lechuga (lettuce), who started working at the age of 14.
“I started with a bicycle and a box and I started selling sandwiches,” said Algaba, who reportedly graduated to buying vehicles to repair and resell.
The budding entrepreneur’s dedication allegedly paid off, as he had a large warehouse full of high-end cars, motorcycles, and jet skis by the time he was 24.
Algaba subsequently founded a luxury car and jet ski rental firm in Miami before picking up and moving to Barcelona earlier this year.
During his final years, Algaba was involved in trading cryptocurrency from an office in Buenos Aires with over 25 employees.
However, the moneymaker’s seeming rags-to-riches story was not all that it seemed.
Algaba had accumulated “irrecoverable” debts with Argentina’s tax agency and his company, “Motors Lettuce SRL,” began bouncing checks less than a year after its January 2018 incorporation.
Algaba had also left a note on his phone claiming that he’d lost a lot of money investing in crypto, according to La Nacion.
He had reportedly run afoul of the Barra Bravas, a violent gang heavily involved in Argentina’s soccer scene, which reportedly demanded that he pay them a $40,000 loan.
“If something happens to me, everyone is already warned,” he wrote in a message.
Algaba’s brother Rodolfo Pérez Algaba said he wasn’t sure if his deceased sibling was involved with the criminal ring, but insists that he was “not a scammer” as many had allegedly claimed, as reported by local media.
The victim’s brother claimed that Algaba was simply a car salesman who “did not do well” in Bitcoin.
Rodolfo also noted that when he was 17, their father died and left an inheritance that Algaba used to start his business, hinting that the influencer didn’t go from poor to posh as he seemed to suggest.
Rodolfo, who reportedly had not seen the vehicle hawker for three months following an argument, claimed that Algaba “was under psychiatric treatment for an anxiety disorder.”
Rodolfo ultimately hopes that authorities can apprehend his brother’s killer.
“I’ve been here for three days and hardly sleep, thinking, breaking my head, how could this happen,” he declared. “But I’m not going to sit still, I’m not going to do justice with my own hands, but I hope that justice will be done.”
ncG1vNJzZmimlazAr7vWp6CgnaKerm%2B6xmikoqujnruoecyio6Whn6Ouqr7EZpqrsaCpvG61zZ%2Bjrp2emLKzecWeqaeZnpm8brzEq5yzZZGhtKKuwGadqK2emXqltdKmnKaalaeypXnIp2SsrZmpsKK%2FxGanoaekpMBw