Tragic ending: the man robbed by a Tinder black widow has died

Ariel David Castillo, 48 years old, passed away this Thursday at noon after being in intensive care for five days. The previous Saturday, he had been attacked in his San Martín home by a "black widow" he met through Tinder.

The assailant drugged him and, with the help of at least two accomplices, robbed him. The victim was found in a state of confusion by a friend who arrived at the residence and noticed everything in complete disarray.

The first medical reports confirmed that Ariel had ingested alcohol and substances, although it has not yet been determined if the cause of death was intoxication or a subsequent fall. The autopsy will be key to establishing how he died.

Suspicions, fall, and an investigation that changed course

According to the testimony of the friend who found him,  Ariel woke up disoriented. He could barely recount that he had met a man on Tinder and invited him to his house, but he didn't remember anything else that happened.

While they were examining the place,  Ariel attempted to climb the stairs, lost his balance, and fell. He was urgently transferred first to Hospital Thompson and then to Sanatorio Méndez, where he died this Thursday.

The San Martín prosecutor's office, led by María Fernanda Billone and Ignacio Correa, decided to reclassify the case. What was initially a robbery is now being investigated as a homicidio criminis causa, that is,  a murder to cover up another crime.

The black widow's blow: planned robbery without traces

The criminals acted carefully. They wore gloves and left no traces at the scene, complicating the work of the Scientific Police.

From Ariel's house, they took perfumes, jewelry, a laptop, 400,000 pesos in cash, and his car: a gray Volkswagen Polo Track. Through security cameras, some movements were reconstructed.

At 12:40 AM, Ariel entered his home accompanied by a man. Then, around 1:54 AM, a black VW Gol Trend arrived at the residence, and three people got out of it. They were seen leaving with backpacks and bags.

The images, although useful, are of low quality. Even so, they allowed the detection that this vehicle is still at large and is being intensely sought by the police.

A piece of information that could change everything

The friend who found Ariel also provided a clue that could be key. He said he suspected a 23-year-old ex-boyfriend of the victim. According to him, that young man had shown up at the house on May 2 accompanied by another man to demand money, claiming an outstanding debt.

The case now revolves around several hypotheses, but they all lead to the same point:  Ariel died after a premeditated attack, executed by a network of criminals who used a dating app as bait.

The investigation remains open, and with the autopsy pending, investigators are confident that there will soon be progress in clarifying a crime as brutal as it is meticulous.