An arrest has been made into the gruesome death of a U.S. activist and comedian whose body was found stabbed and dumped in a ravine in Colombia on Sunday after he was abducted.
A woman who is alleged to have lured a U.S. activist to his abduction and ultimate death has been arrested by police in Colombia, according to reports.
The woman, who has not been identified, is understood to have been arrested on Wednesday in relation to the gruesome death of Tou Ger Xiong, 50, an Asian American man from Woodbury in Minnesota whose body was found stabbed and dumped in a ravine in La Corcovada, northwest of Medellín.
Xiong had gone to meet the woman on Sunday when he was abducted by a group of men who held him for ransom before they allegedly killed him. He was found with multiple stab wounds, blunt force trauma and had fallen from 60 feet.
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Details about the woman’s arrest and her possible role in the killing remain unknown, although the New York Post reports she has been taken into custody. Fox News Digital reached out to Colombian police and the U.S. Embassy in Colombia but have not received a response. The State Department confirmed Xiong’s passing, but did not provide any more details pertaining to his death.
The news of the arrest comes as the victim’s brother, Eh Xiong, has revealed that his younger sibling knew the woman he had gone to meet, while pictures the victim posted online with beautiful women on his travels to South America have surfaced.
"Unfortunately, he was set up, we believe that," Eh Xiong told the Daily Mail. "We're letting law enforcement do the work. But the individuals that he met he knew from the previous encounter from his previous trip."
Xiong, who was born in Laos and spent four years of his childhood in a refugee camp in Thailand, was heavily involved in Minnesota’s Hmong community and worked to promote its culture and stamp out racism. Hmong people are an indigenous group from East and Southeast Asia.
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He did day trading during the day in Colombia while staying at the home of his friend and, at night, they would visit restaurants and bars in the city, according to the Daily Mail.
Eh Xiong said his brother's affinity for meeting new people and his faith in people may have led him to his death.
"He was very trustworthy and he really saw the best in everyone. I think that was his downfall," Eh Xiong said. "Maybe he trusted and saw the very best in people and then he just never worried about his safety because of the type of person he (was)."
Tou Ger Xiong recently posted a picture of himself posing with a gorgeous red-headed woman, along with several photos of the woman on her own. It is not known if the woman had anything to do with Tou Ger Xiong’s death, or if she is the woman who has been arrested.
Tou Ger Xiong's family said he embraced the Hmong culture by educating his audience about his origin and helped co-found groups such as the Community Action Against Racism and the Hmong American Partnership. He was named a Bush Foundation fellow in 2019 and the foundation’s website states that he amplified the voices of his community and served as a force for change.
In a moving post to his Facebook page last month, Hmong told his 20,000 followers to embrace life’s changes.
"Sometimes relationships end, family members can grow apart, best friends break up, divorce happens, and work colleagues get fired, that’s life," he wrote.
"When that happens it’s OK to set our egos aside and move on. Gossip, envy, deceit, jealousy, and lies are all self-injected poisons that will slowly kill you up from the inside. They eventually destroy everything you once were and prevent more beautiful things to grow inside of you."
"So instead of revenge and death to all, choose self-love, forgiveness, and compassion. Beauty cannot grow inside a heart full of anger."
"Have a blessed Saturday friends – TGX."
