The Mother Who Did Not Cry: The Elmer Ríos Case

A mother receives the ransom money for her 11-year-old son and never asks if he is alive. Iquitos, Peru, 2019: Elmer disappears on his way home. His mother planned everything. But the plan turned into murder when she refused to part with the money. In this episode, you will discover how a mother calculated every detail of her own son's tragedy, how a two-day ransom extended to eight days in the hands of criminals, and why Arlen's emotional silence was more revealing than any confession. We will follow the evidence from the black bag next to the cemetery to the life sentence, understanding motives of economic revenge, emotional coldness, and a crime that shocked an entire city. Case Details Victim: Elmer Ríos Guachamba, 11 years old, student Date: May 9, 2019 Location: Iquitos, Loreto, Peru Status: Life sentence handed down June 7, 2022, for Arlen (mother), Lester, and Belson; Cásculo in juvenile detention - Arlen retains 4,500 of the 5,000 soles received as ransom, giving only 500 to the captors who had her son alive - The mother never sheds a tear during the eight-day search; she only cries when the body appears - The original plan was to hold Elmer for two days for 500 soles; Arlen's refusal to release the full amount escalates to suffocation - Security cameras place Lester in extortion calls; a photograph of him armed in the jungle, with a tattoo of four stars, facilitates his capture Can someone planning to recover their child act like Arlen, holding onto money while their child remains captive in the hands of desperate criminals? minor abduction Peru, extortion kidnapping, crime of passion revenge, criminal mother Iquitos, life sentence Peru, emotional coldness psychopathy, child murder, criminal justice, hidden truth, true crime Spanish podcastTo listen ad-free and access premium episodes, start your 30-day free trial at obomedia.comOBOMEDIA presents true crime storiesa true crime podcast built on real cases.Every true crime story in our crime files follows the crime investigation from the missing person report to the trial: investigators and police building a murder case, a police investigation gone cold, justice for the victim and those who survived.We open the unsolved murder, the cold case reopened decades later, the mysterious death, the disappearance, the serial killer, the family murder, the murder mystery; the missing persons  a missing woman, a missing girl, a missing man found dead and the missing and murdered.From the infamous case to the unsolved case, from classic true crime to dark true crime and disturbing true crime: true crime reports, real crime stories, real murder cases, true murder stories and unsolved mysteries one true crime case at a time, from the OBOMEDIA true crime vault.© 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text and related 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 commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing and business inquirie