A Sad End for Samurai

A search rally for Samurai in the Parque Nacional. He had lots of friends.

You might have noticed the posters around town, or even encountered one of the search rallies. But no, Bogotanos are not taking up the ancient Japanese sport. Rather, 'Samurai' is the stage name of Hernández Beltrán, a prominent Bogotá hip hop musician who disappeared in mid-December.

Samurai's fans held on to hope and carried out a massive search. Fate was against them and Samurai, however. A few days ago, a badly decomposed corpse discovered Jan. 4 was identified as Samurai's. He had been murdered with blows to the head with a blunt instrument - perhaps in a fight.

Samurai became one of Bogotá's last homicide victims of 2018, in a city which still has way too many of them.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours