British man’s girlfriend ‘gunned down near their holiday hotel in Colombia’

Anna Tinterova, a 25-year-old from the Czech Republic, has been shot and killed. She had been in Medellin, Colombia with her British boyfriend for a month

A British man is reportedly assisting police after his girlfriend was gunned down near their holiday hotel in a quiet town in Colombia.

His girlfriend has been identified locally as Anna Tinterova, a 25-year-old from the Czech Republic.

She was found dead at the roadside on Friday in a rural area of Jardin known as La Salada, a two-and-a-half-hour drive south of Medellin.

Police have not yet confirmed whether they are treating the unresolved killing as a botched street robbery or are investigating other theories.

Ms Tinterova is said to have been shot around 7.30pm in the spot where she was found dead, about 10 minutes from the town centre.

Initial reports pointed to her being the victim of a stabbing before it emerged she had received a fatal gunshot wound.

Police chief Gustavo Franco Gomez said: “We are carrying out interviews and verifying the route this woman had taken moments before she was killed.

“The information we have is that she had spent several weeks in Medellin and the surrounding area but we’re in the process of confirming all of this.

“The dead woman’s partner has been interviewed and a list of the places they frequented before this crime occurred is being put together.”

He added “The death of this foreign national is shocking and very regrettable.

“Specialist officers have already examined the body at the crime scene and our investigation is continuing.”

The victim, who describes herself on social media as a former medical student from Prague, is said to have reached Medellin around four weeks ago with her partner.

The killing is the first so far this year involving a foreign national in the municipality of Jardin, where around 20 murders are said to have taken place in 2021.

Luis Fernando Quijano, a security expert in Antioquia, told local media: “Foreign visitors are never informed about the situation in a region like Antioquia.

“They arrive and go sightseeing without being aware of the security situation.

“The murder of this woman open up a lot of questions about the situation in the south-west of Antioquia which has been a disputed area for some time now.

“It’s an area where there’s a power struggle going on for control of strategic corridors when it comes to things like drugs trafficking.”

Another security expert in the area added: “It would be very serious if this murder was the result of a mugging or another type of attack, very serious for the security of Antioquia and the tourist image of the department.”

Anna’s body was taken to Medellin late on Saturday ahead of a post-mortem which is already thought to have taken place, although the results have been sent to a judge probing the killing and have not yet been made publicly available.