An influencer known as ‘Colombian Barbie’ has revealed she has secretly fled the country with her young daughter after she was shot at in an armed attack.
The incident happened on a road in Antioquia, a department in north-western Colombia, as Tatiana Murillo drove home.
The terrified woman said that for her own safety, and that of her child, she left the country under cover earlier this month (December).
Murillo, who has nearly a million followers on Instagram, said someone shot at her driver’s-side window, although luckily the glass did not shatter.
She insisted it was not a robbery because nothing was stolen, and said she does not have any enemies.
Murillo said she has reported the attack to police and asked followers not to speculate about who was behind it, warning that rumours could put her at greater risk.
In a message posted on social media, she said she was leaving “not out of fear, but out of precaution”, explaining that her priority was protecting her child while investigators work to establish what happened.
She added that she will continue working online but said she will no longer post anything in real time as a safety measure, and did not reveal where she has gone.
The shooting scare comes after Murillo previously spoke publicly about how her life changed as she transformed herself into a blonde “Barbie” look-alike through cosmetic surgery, claiming people treated her with “more respect” after each operation.
Murillo has said she grew up in Caicedo, a rural town in Colombia, where she was bullied for her looks and her family’s poverty.
She said: “I suffered bullying at school, not so much from the children, but from the adults. My cruelest moments at school were because of my father’s economic status; he was a farmer.”
She has said the pressure was so intense that she left school in seventh grade, briefly worked as a local radio presenter, and later became pregnant at 16, after which she was expelled from home.
Murillo later moved to Medellin, a major city in Colombia, with her newborn daughter and said she gave up journalism studies to care for her child.
She has also claimed she struggled to build an events business because male officials refused to take her seriously.
Murillo said the first money she earned went on a rhinoplasty she had wanted for years, though she later needed corrective surgery — the start of what she has described as a long series of procedures.
She has said she has undergone 35 cosmetic operations, including several rhinoplasties, eyelid surgery, chin and neck liposuction, breast augmentation and body contouring.
Murillo has also spoken about undergoing skin-lightening, saying it was the aspect of her appearance she was most criticised for.
She said: “My skin was the hardest thing for me to accept my whole life, I’m not lying, more than my nose. I managed to lighten my skin by about four shades.”
Murillo has said she needed therapy for body dysmorphia to help her recognise herself after the dramatic changes, and previously estimated she spent about COP 700,000,000 (GBP 136,500) on cosmetic procedures.
Now, after the attack, she has appealed for calm while the investigation continues, saying she wants the authorities to clarify the facts — and that her focus is keeping her daughter safe.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: newsX
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