From the Daily Telegraph (UK):
Beauty queen shot dead after octopus ceviche order led killers to restaurant
Ecuadorian influencer Landy Párraga shared her lunch with 173,000 followers on Instagram before armed men burst into restaurant
3 May 2024 • 5:18pm
An Ecuadorian beauty queen was assassinated after her Instagram post of a plate of octopus ceviche led gunmen to the restaurant where she was dining.
Police are investigating the shooting of 23-year-old Landy Párraga amid media speculation the hit was ordered by the widow of a drug lord with whom she is believed to have had an affair.
The beauty queen and social media influencer was gunned down shortly after her name appeared in a corruption inquiry linking judicial officials to organised crime.
Párraga had just posted a photo of the ceviche she was about to eat for lunch to her 173,000 followers on Instagram when two armed men burst into the restaurant in Quevedo and fired several times at her.
The restaurant’s CCTV captured Párraga coming under fire. She was reportedly shot three times and died shortly after.
Párraga, who took fifth place in the 2022 edition of Miss Ecuador, is said to have been the lover of Leandro Norero, a married drug trafficker who was killed in a prison riot 18 months ago.
Investigators found photos of the beauty queen and evidence of the lavish gifts he gave her, including apartments and cars, on Norero’s phone after his death.
“If my wife comes across anything about her, I’m screwed,” Norero had said of Párraga to an alleged criminal associate, Helive Ángulo.
He added: “My friend, her name cannot come out anywhere. Otherwise, my world will come crashing down.”
