NETFLIX documentary Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas tells the story behind the tragic deaths of five escorts.
The programme looks into the Zona Divas escorting website and what really happened. Here’s everything you need to know.
Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas delves into the illegal website’s operation which ended in the death of five women.
The Netflix documentary series is made up of four parts and the synopsis reads: “In the dark underbelly of Mexico City, young women seeking stability are lured to a website of sexual exploitation, leading to a series of murders.”
Zona Divas was a website which was described as helping escorts find work, but the truth was much darker.
The work was based in Mexico, although many of the women left neighbouring countries as they were promised work that would pay for their families.
First opened in 2010, the website allowed anyone to contact the escorts after looking at their online profile.
Two Mexican men called Soni and Tony were the people who set up the website.
The women involved had their passports taken from them and were unable to travel independently as they were always driven around by a fixed driver and only allowed to go to hotels to meet clients.
Five women who were on the website were murdered.
Wendy Cortes left her family in Venezuela because of the dire situation in her country.
She moved to Mexico without telling her mother and got involved in Zona Divas along with a friend.
She tried to get out of the situation several times but was unable to.
The last time she was seen was checking into a hotel to meet a client but her body was discovered in the room the next day.
Wendy had been strangled to death by the man who had brought her there.
Genesis was another Venezuelan woman who wanted to become a model before being found by a Zona Divas recruiter and benign sent to Mexico City.
She took the job due to the money paying for her daughter.
After working for a few months, she had earned enough money to buy a house for her family however, that’s when her family wanted Genesis to step away but she wanted to stay for a bit longer.
That’s when tragedy occurred and Genesis was also found dead in a hotel room after checking in the day before with a client.
Karen was a dancer from Argentina.
She and her friend were scouted to work in an adult club in Mexico.
The pair agreed but soon discovered they were being exploited so they escaped to Mexico City before joining Zona Divas.
Karen became roommates with Genesis and realised the situation they were stuck in.
Karen was then found dead in a hotel room as well.
Colombian woman Andreina left Zona Divas after a man assaulted and threatened to kill her while she was working.
She then tried to start her own agency but was shot dead in her car when she was on the highway just outside Mexico City.
The fifth person who was murdered was Colombian woman Kenni.
She had initially come to Mexico City to work for Zona Divas to afford medicine for her mother.
Her family became concerned when Kenni got a boyfriend.
He turned out to be a professional hitman who began to torture and blackmail Kenni.
Kenni was kidnapped and killed before her body was dumped in an alley in Mexico City.
The website was reportedly shut down in 2018 after the five murders and Zona Divas was then labelled as a human trafficking ring.
El Soni, the co-founder, was arrested in 2019 for human trafficking and exploitation charges and was sentenced to 29 years in prison.
However, in 2021 the charges were dropped and El Soni was set free.
