A social media influencer, Nicol Rescata who turned her life around after falling into drug addiction has been murdered in Ecuador.
Nicol Montenegro, 23, was found shot dead near a warehouse in Yaguachi, a town in the Pacific coast province of Guayas on Saturday, August 4.
The young woman was found lying face down and was shot several times in the head, according to Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo.
Warehouse workers told authorities that they were sleeping inside when they heard multiple shots fired around 3:30 am.
The workers found Montenegro’s lifeless body next to a rice grinding machine, about 1,600 feet from the building Saturday afternoon.
The suspects left a bottle with gasoline and a box of matches near the body, according to authorities.
It’s believed that workers prevented the suspects from setting Montenegro’s body on fire after they turned the lights on.
No arrest has been made as of Thursday afternoon.
Montenegro became a social media star after recovering from her battle with drug addiction several years ago. She later used her own experiences to steer away young people from falling into the same path.
She commanded a strong following on YouTube and TikTok, where she had more than 80,000 followers, posting videos of her visits and motivational talks with recovering addicts.
Montenegro was a mother to a four-year-old girl.
Her family identified her body at a local morgue and transported it to the province of Los Rïos, south of the country’s capital, Quito, and held a funeral service Sunday in her hometown of Babahoyo.
