Haunting last text of alleged Ted Bundy copycat's victim amid new probe

13 August 2023 , 11:05

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Bryant "Eduardo" Rivera, an alleged serial killer who has been compared to Ted Bundy (Image: U.S. Attorney’s Office via U.S. District Court complaint)

The haunting final text message of one of alleged murderer Bryan Eduardo" Rivera's victims has emerged as police investigate a fourth woman's death.

The investigation comes just a month after Rivera's arrest for allegedly killing three sex workers in a Mexican border city in a case that has seen him compared to serial killer Ted Bundy. The California man has been accused of strangling sex worker Ángela Carolina Acosta Flores to death on January 24, 2022 inside a hotel room next to the Tijuana bar where he had picked her up.

Angela's mother shared that her daughter occasionally engaged in sex work and had texted her on January 24, 2022, indicating that she would be accompanying a client to room 404 at the hotel. Disturbingly, her mother's texts that followed went unanswered, and she was never able to reestablish contact with her daughter.

Witnesses say he was last seen with Ángela Carolina Acosta Flores before her death (U.S. Attorney’s Office via U.S. District Court complaint)

Footage showed Rivera reentering the US shortly after Ángela Carolina Acosta Flores was murdered (U.S. Attorney’s Office via U.S. District Court complaint)

Witnesses reported seeing a man matching Rivera's description entering the hotel room with Angela moments before she stopped responding. Angela's boyfriend later visited the Tijuana club, where workers informed him that she had left with a customer named Bryant Rivera. The investigation found that Rivera frequented the bar and was suspected of killing another prostitute who worked there, prior to allegedly murdering Angela.

Surveillance footage depicted what seemed to be Rivera and Angela heading toward the nearby hotel around 10.15pm, with Rivera exiting the premises alone an hour and a half later. Chillingly, Rivera returned to the bar a month later and is believed to have killed another dancer.

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The victim, a 25-year-old woman, was reported missing, and three days later, her naked body was discovered strangled and bludgeoned inside her SUV, according to the San Diego Tribune.

Former Baja California Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez revealed that the fourth murder bears striking similarities to the three other killings that have been linked to Rivera. Prior to his arrest, the Baja California Attorney General compared Rivera's alleged violent and psychopathic behavior to that of Ted Bundy.

Ted Bundy terrorized the nation during the 1970s with his abduction, rape, and murder of numerous young women and girls. Bundy was ultimately executed in 1989, having been convicted of 20 murders, although he confessed to 30 and is believed to have committed even more.

Lucy Williamson