# British man held in Ecuador after woman's body found in suitcase — retained record

> Retained news record from news:bbc-news.

Canonical: https://highsignal.app/data/records/4e08790d2f96c970

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:bbc-news)  published 2026-06-28 13:08 ingested 2026-06-28 13:40

[original source ↗](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yz53ll534o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)

## retained text



```
British man held in Ecuador after woman's body found in suitcase
- Published
A British man has been arrested in Ecuador after the body of a woman was found inside a suitcase in Colombia.
Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith, 46, from Bournemouth, Dorset, is alleged to have caused the death of 36-year-old Natalia Villalba in an apartment in Bogota on 18 June, local authorities said.
The Attorney General's Office in Colombia said Foster-Smith was suspected of beating Villalba to death before placing her body in a suitcase, attempting to conceal what happened, and fleeing the scene.
An arrest warrant was obtained by prosecutors in Colombia and an Interpol Red Notice was issued, authorities said.
Foster-Smith was held at Quito International Airport in Ecuador.
Bogota's mayor, Carlos Fernando Galan, said Dorset Police had assisted with the operation to locate him.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting a British man who has been detained in Ecuador and are in touch with the local authorities."
Dorset Police has been approached for comment.
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document fetched 2026-06-28 13:40 · canonical https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yz53ll534o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss