A TikTok influencer ‘was killed’ when her car plunged into a canal close to a resort town in Sinaloa on Friday night, multiple reports in Mexico have said.
Hours before a car believed to have belonged to her was pulled from the water, Michelle Lizarraga, 22, aka La Bellota, had posted a video to her 14,000 followers and 93,000 likes showing her partying at a local night club on the night of September 7 in Mazatlan. Her car was not discovered until 8am on September 8.
Lizarraga, who has been referred to as a ‘beauty influencer’ in reports was identified by her 666 tattoo on her arm. She was 22 years old.
One report says that Lizarraga’s black Jetta car flooded and capsized after hitting the water in what is described as an irrigation canal in the community of San Francisquito. Officials have yet to confirm her identity.
In the video, the TikTok star can be seen in a nightclub with local music blasting in the background as she slugs from a bottle of champagne. Lizarraga embraces two friends during the short clip.
Michelle Lizarraga known as ‘La Bellota’ posted a video showing her slugging from a bottle of champagne hours before she is thought to have been killed
A widely circulated photo from the scene shows a black Jetta being pulled from the irrigation canal
The video comments have been flooded with those offering their condolences. ‘Beautiful friend, I’m going to miss you,’ said one friend. ‘Rest in peace my queen, I love you friend,’ another said.
Meanwhile, Mazatlan-based lawyer Maria Teresa Guerra Ochoa has said that she is waiting to see an official report before ruling out foul play in the ‘death’ of Lizarraga.
‘There was an incident here in the south of the state, particularly in this municipality, but it has not yet been confirmed that it was an incident involving violence,’ Ochoa said according to Linea Directa.
‘We are waiting for the results of the investigation and until now we are still on the same count with 21 femicides and two intentional homicides,’ the attorney added.
The crash is being investigated by the state attorney general’s office who have taken evidence from the scene, reports Noroeste.
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Officials described the victim as wearing a ‘short gray dress, approximately 30 years old with light skin and black hair.’
The Linea Directa story says that members of the Villa Union Veteran Firefighter tried in vain to save her life. Video recorded at the scene sees rescue vehicles attempting to pull the car from the water.
Lizarraga had attained 93,000 likes despite posting just 21 videos. Many of her posts say her receive flowers as a gift. One video, from August, shows her drinking champagne in the front seat of a car while a man drives at speed.
Lizarraga boasted around 14,000 followers on TikTok despite posting less than 25 videos
‘I’ll miss you so much, and I don’t know if one day I can get used to your absence,’ one friend wrote on Facebook
One local activist lawyer told the media to wait until the official police report is made before ruling out foul play
A friend of Lizarraga’s wrote a lengthy, heartbreaking post on Facebook following news of the influencer’s passing spread.
‘I can’t understand how someone with so much illusions, talent and a great human being can just leave like that, so suddenly,’ the post read in part.
‘You were a light in my life, you brightened many of my dark moments, and now that light will be in my heart. I don’t want to remember you sad, because I know you wouldn’t like that. I will try to remember you with your smile, with your jokes,’ the post continued.
‘I’ll miss you so much, and I don’t know if one day I can get used to your absence,’ the post concluded.
With Lizarraga’s apparent death remaining under investigation, Mexican authorities are continuing to crack down on Sinaloa’s infamously violent drug cartel.
Reports from earlier this year said that since the imprisonment of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, his sons steered the family business into fentanyl, establishing a network of labs churning out massive quantities of the cheap, deadly drug that they smuggled into the U.S., prosecutors revealed in an indictment.
