Biography of Pedro Alonso Lopez, Monster of the Andes

Pedro Alonzo Lopez (born October 8, 1948) was responsible for the murders of over 350 children, yet in 1998 he was set free despite his vows to kill again. Rumors regarding his whereabouts have swirled since the late 1990s. Fast Facts: Pedro Alonzo Lopez Known For: Serial killer, responsible for the brutal murders of over 350 childrenAlso Known As: Monster of the AndesBorn: October 8, 1948Parents: Midardo Reyes, Benilda Là ³pez De CastenedaNotable Quote: They Never Scream. They Expect Nothing. They Are Innocent. Early Years Lopez was born on October 8, 1948, in Tolima, Colombia, a time when the country was in political turmoil and crime was rampant. He was the seventh of 13 children born to a Colombian prostitute. When Lopez was eight, his mother caught him touching his sisters breast, and she kicked him out of the house forever. Trust Me, Trust Me Not Lopez became a beggar on the violent Colombian streets. He was soon approached by a man who sympathized with the boys situation and offered him a safe home and food to eat. Lopez, desperate and hungry, did not hesitate and went with the man. Instead of going to a comfortable home, he was taken to an abandoned building and repeatedly sodomized and returned to the street. During the attack, Lopez angrily vowed he would do the same to as many little girls that he could, a promise he later kept. After being raped by the pedophile, Lopez became paranoid of strangers, hiding during the day and scavenging for food at night. Within a year he left  Tolima  and wandered to the town of Bogota. An American couple reached out to him after feeling pity for the thin boy begging for food. They brought him to their home and enrolled him in a school for orphans, but when he was 12, a male teacher molested him. Shortly afterward, Lopez stole money and fled back into the streets. Prison Life Lopez, lacking in education and skill, survived on the streets by begging and committing petty thievery. His stealing advanced to car theft, and he was paid well when he sold the stolen cars to chop shops. He was arrested at the age of 18 for car theft and sent to prison. After a few days of being there, he was gang-raped by four prisoners. The anger and rage he experienced as a child rose inside him again, consuming him. He made another vow to himself; to never be violated again. Lopez got his revenge for the rape by killing three of the four men responsible. Authorities added two years to his sentence, deeming his actions as self-defense. During his incarceration, he had time to revisit his life, and a quiet rage toward his mother became monstrous. He also dealt with his sexual needs by browsing pornographic magazines. Between his prostitute mother and the pornography, Lopezs only knowledge of women fed his demented hatred for them. Release and Rearrest In 1978, Lopez was released from prison, moved to Peru, and began kidnapping and killing young Peruvian girls. He was caught by a group of Indians and tortured, buried up to his neck in the sand, but was later freed and deported to Ecuador. Experiencing near death did not influence his murderous ways and his killing of young girls continued. The increase of missing girls was noticed by authorities, but it was concluded that they had likely been kidnapped by child peddlers and sold as sex slaves. In April 1980, a flood exposed the bodies of four murdered children, and the Ecuadorian authorities realized there was a serial murderer at large. Shortly after the flood, Lopez was caught trying to abduct a young girl after the child’s mother intervened. The police could not get Lopez to cooperate, so they enlisted the help of a local priest, dressed him as a prisoner, and placed him in a cell with Lopez. The trick worked. Lopez was quick to share his brutal crimes with his new cellmate. Lopez Confesses When confronted by the police about the crimes he shared with his cellmate, Lopez broke down and confessed. His memory of his crimes was very clear, which was remarkable since he confessed to killing at least 110 children in Ecuador, more than 100 more in Colombia, and another 100 in Peru. Lopez admitted that he would walk the streets looking for innocent girls who he would lure away with the promise of gifts. Lopez often brought the girls to prepared graves, sometimes filled with the dead bodies of other girls he had killed. He would calm the child with soft reassuring words throughout the night. At sunrise he would rape and strangle them, satisfying his sick sexual needs as he watched their eyes fade as they died. He never killed at night because he could not see his victims eyes and felt, without that element, the murder was a waste. In Lopezs confession, he told of having tea parties and playing morbid games with the deceased children. He would prop them up in their graves and talk to them, convincing himself that his little friends liked the company. But when the dead children failed to answer, he would become bored and go off to find another victim. Monster of the Andes The police found his ghastly confession hard to believe, so Lopez agreed to take them to the graves of the children. More than 53 bodies were found, which was enough for the investigators to take him at his word. The public renamed him Monster of the Andes as more information about his crimes became known. For his crimes of raping, killing, and mutilating over 100 children, Lopez received a sentence of life in prison. Lopez never showed remorse for his crimes. In a prison interview with journalist Ron Laytner, he said if he ever got out of prison he would happily return to killing young children. The pleasure he received from his demented acts of murder overpowered any sense of right from wrong, and he admittedly looked forward to the opportunity to wrap his hands around the throat of his next child. Second Release No one was concerned that Lopez would have the opportunity to kill again. If paroled from the prison in Ecuador, he would still have to stand trial for his murders in Colombia and Peru. But after 20 years of solitary confinement, in the summer of 1998, it is said that Lopez was taken in the middle of the night to the Colombia border and released. Neither Colombia or Peru had the money to bring the madman to justice. Whereabouts Unknown Whatever happened to The Monster of the Andes is unknown. Many suspect and hope that one of the many bounties offered for his death eventually paid off and that he is dead. If Lopez has escaped his enemies and is still alive, there is little doubt that he has returned to his old ways. Sources Pearson, Nick. â€Å"Worlds Second Worst Serial Killer Walked Free from Prison.†Ã‚  9News Breaking News, 9News, 5 Dec. 2018.Serena, Katie. â€Å"Serial Killer Who Murdered 300 People Was Released From Jail, And No One Knows Where He Is.†Ã‚  All Thats Interesting, 30 Nov. 2018.â€Å"The Monster Of The Andes: South American Serial Killer Pedro Lopez.†Ã‚  Did You Know?, 17 July 2017.