Teresa Cross: decades of child torture facilitated by system failures

The mother who sold her son for revenge: The murder of Elmer in Iquitos A mother organized the kidnapping of her own 11-year-old son, provided his school route to the captors, and when she was informed that he had been murdered, her only concern was to destroy the chips from the cell phones. On May 9, 2019, Elmer disappeared in Iquitos in what seemed to be an impossible crime: the family itself was the architect of the plan. In this episode, we explore how Arlen designed every detail of the kidnapping, from placing contact numbers in her son's backpack the night before to withholding the ransom money while her accomplices crumbled under greed. We reconstruct the internal breakdown between Lester, Cásculo, and Belson that ended in asphyxiation, the discovery of the black sack next to the cemetery, and the coldness of a mother who never cried during the search. Victim: Elmer (11 years) Date: May 9, 2019 Location: Iquitos, Peru Status: Sentenced (life imprisonment, June 2022) - Arlen placed a phone number in Elmer's backpack the night before the kidnapping, proving premeditation of 24 hours. - Security cameras located Lester at payphones exactly when the captors called the family. - Arlen withheld 4,500 of 5,000 soles from the ransom, causing the financial breakdown that triggered the asphyxiation murder. - The mother did not cry during three days of searching; the only tears came when they found the body. Elmer, Iquitos, family murder, kidnapping, 2019, criminal minds, investigation, homicide, true crime, forensic, revenge, justice, true crime SpanishIf you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: [email protected]