Prosecutors Say ‘Obsessed’ College Classmate Strangled Social Media Influencer, 21: Report

Catalina Gutierrez was a social media influencer from Argentina who was found murdered in a car, according to El Doce TV.

Prosecutors accused an “obsessed” college classmate, Nestor Soto, of strangling her, El Trece reported. According to La Gaceta, Gutierrez, a social media “influencer,” was discovered deceased on July 17 after her boyfriend, who is not the suspect, reported her missing.

According to El Doce TV, a Spanish-language site, Gutierrez was found dead in her car “in the Ampliación Kennedy neighborhood, and her friend from the School of Architecture, Néstor Soto, is in custody for the crime.” Soto is accused of “simple homicide,” according to La Gaceta.

According to La 100, also a Spanish-language site, the murder of Gutierrez, 21, has “shocked the entire country” of Argentina. El Trece referred to Gutierrez as a “young influencer.” She had more than 100,000 followers on her Instagram page.

Catalina Gutierrez’s Cause of Death Was Strangulation, Reports Say

Soto is accused of putting an unconscious Gutierrez in a Renault Clio, and setting it ablaze, El Doce reported. However, El Trece reported that Gutierrez “died from asphyxiation by strangulation and showed signs of violence on several parts of her body.” And La Gaceta reported that she “died of asphyxiation by strangulation after being brutally beaten by her killer. The body also had several burns caused after death.”

El Doce reported that Gutierrez had gone to a shopping mall where she was going to bowl with her boyfriend, who is also an architectural student, and other students who are her friends.

But she never showed up, the site reported. According to La Gaceta, her boyfriend reported her missing, and her cell phone helped lead police to her body.

According to El Doce, her father, Marcelo Gutierrez, is a “renowned architect from Córdoba,” who told Noticiero Doce that she sent an audio file to her boyfriend, saying, “My love, I’m going there to play bowling at Patio Olmos.”

According to El Doce, the Justice Department is accusing Nestor Soto of making Gutierrez “pass by his house,” where he murdered her, although “the excuse he gave her to change her route is still under investigation.”

Nestor Soto Is Accused of Making a Comment About Catalina Gutierrez’s Physical Appearance on Her Instagram Page

According to La 100, Soto made a comment on Gutierrez’s Instagram page in January, writing, “Cute, but prettier is Bari, so I came here because I miss you” and left a sad face emoji. La Gaceta reported that Bari is a reference to Soto’s hometown, Bariloche, a city in Argentina. The post and comment are still visible on her Instagram page.

Soto’s Instagram page is set to private.

“Look for me crazy, I miss you more,” she responded to his Instagram comment.

Soto is accused of saying that Gutierrez was the love of his life, La 100 reported.

El Trece reported that Soto confessed to murdering Gutierrez. According to that site, the evidence includes “a ring that Catalina allegedly lost when trying to defend herself and hair from the victim in different parts of the house” where Soto lived.

Jessica McBride is a news, sports, and entertainment reporter covering breaking news, politics sports, entertainment, and crime for Heavy. She is a former reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Waukesha Freeman newspapers in Wisconsin and is a senior journalism instructor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. More about Jessica McBride