The Murder of Blanca Arellano

Blanca's disappearance in Huacho

Blanca Olivia Arellano Gutiérrez traveled from Mexico to Peru in 2022 and was staying in Huacho. Her family lost contact with her in early November. The disappearance triggered a search that quickly became a criminal investigation after human remains were recovered near Huacho and investigators searched the room where Juan Pablo Villafuerte Pinto had been staying.

At the investigative stage, authorities treated Villafuerte as a suspect and he denied responsibility. Forensic work later identified the recovered remains as Blanca's. Evidence collected in the investigation included traces of blood and other items from the residence; the exact evidentiary weight of those materials was later assessed in court.

From suspect to convicted defendant

The legal status changed decisively at trial. On September 12, 2023, the Supraprovincial Collegiate Criminal Court of the Huaura judicial district convicted Juan Pablo Jesús Villafuerte Pinto of feminicide and imposed 35 years of imprisonment. The sentence was calculated from his detention on November 18, 2022, and also ordered civil compensation for Blanca's family.

The conviction matters editorially because it separates the early presumption-stage reporting from the final findings at trial. This page therefore describes Villafuerte as a convicted offender only when discussing the judgment, not when recounting the earlier investigation.

The organ-trafficking allegation was not proven

Early in the investigation, prosecutors also explored allegations involving trafficking of persons and organs. Those claims received intense publicity. At sentencing, however, the trial court concluded that organ trafficking had not been proven with sufficient evidence and rejected that theory. It is therefore not presented here as an established motive or offense.

This distinction is essential: a disturbing allegation appearing in an arrest-stage investigation is not the same as a judicial finding. The proven criminal outcome in the sources reviewed is the feminicide conviction.

Appeal confirms the sentence

Villafuerte challenged the judgment. On January 9, 2024, the Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Huaura unanimously confirmed the 35-year sentence for feminicide. The Poder Judicial published that appellate result on January 11, identifying the three judges who formed the panel.

A review of reliable sources through August 30, 2026 did not locate a later ruling that reversed that appellate judgment. This page does not claim that every conceivable extraordinary remedy has been exhausted; it records the verified appellate status.

Current status

The case is classified as Solved / Adjudicated on Appeal. Blanca's death was identified and prosecuted, Juan Pablo Villafuerte Pinto was convicted of feminicide, and the 35-year sentence was unanimously confirmed on appeal. Allegations of organ trafficking were not proven and are explicitly excluded from the established criminal findings.