California Man Who Goes on Tinder Date in Colombia Found Dead on Street; Police Say He Was Drugged and Robbed
A California man was found dead on a street in Colombia after he went on a date with a woman he met on the dating app Tinder.
According to Daily Mail, Paul Nguyen, 27, of Orange County, flew for the first time to Medellin with one of his friends on November 6. Four days later, he was murdered, making him the 25th foreign tourist to be murdered in Medellin this year.
Paul's sister, Amy Nguyen, told KABC that his brother went on a date with a woman last Wednesday after logging on to his Tinder account. Nguyen was reportedly planning to eat in the Medellin city center. However, the woman convinced him to go to a restaurant in Laureles neighborhood.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told El Colombiano that Nguyen used a credit card to pay various payments at a business. The source added that the California man had shared two pictures of him with the woman he met on Tinder on his Instagram.
Nguyen was last seen walking out of a bar with the woman at around 2 a.m. on Thursday. His body was reportedly found at around 5 a.m. in the Robledo neighborhood in Medellin.
Amy said police in Colombia believe that her brother, a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, was drugged and robbed before he was killed.
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Tinder Date of California Man Goes Horribly Wrong
Amy Nguyen noted that her brother's credit card was used at a pharmacy. However, the cashier said the guy was not Asian, Fox 5 reported. Amy told KABC that all her brother's credit cards were swiped after 4 a.m., and all his belongings were taken.
"We believe there were multiple people involved, and she was just there to lure him and set him up," she noted. Amy said Paul Nguyen's body was discovered next to some garbage receptacles, KTLA reported.
Amy noted that her brother died in "a cruel and senseless crime." In the GoFundMe page created by their family, she thanked those who helped for their efforts after the killers "chose money and greed over a single thought of my brother's life."
Amy said she wished she could have done more to protect her brother. The money from GoFundMe will go toward the memorial service of the California man.
Amy said they were working to bring her brother back to the United States for his funeral service. The GoFundMe page has already received $35,660 in donations.
Paul Nguyen was employed as a contractor and spent his free time traveling. The Colombia National Police had reportedly not made any arrests as of Wednesday night.
The Danger of Dating App Tinder
Tinder earlier made headlines after the murder of Grace Millane, a British backpacker. She was killed by Jesse Kempson, whom she met on Tinder in Auckland.
The dating app has made the news again with the "Tinder Swindler" Shimon Heyada Hayut. He conned women he had met on Tinder by posing as a son of a billionaire diamond mogul. He had operated under several aliases, such as Simon Leviev. The Leviev family name was prominent in the diamond industry.
In 2021, Aubrey Trail and his girlfriend Bailey Boswell were both convicted of first-degree murder after the brutal killing and dismemberment of Sydney Loofe. Trail and Boswell lured her using Tinder and then wanted her to be part of their lifestyle defrauding antique dealers and having group sex.
Loofe freaked out and Trail was worried she would go to the authorities, leading him to kill her with an electrical cord in 2017 before he dismembered her. Trail tried to kill himself in custody by slitting his own throat but was unsuccessful.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: Orange County Man Drugged, Robbed, Killed in Medellin, Colombia, Family Says - From ABC 7