The “Cannibal” the System Set Free to Kill Again

Two Young Men Find a Severed Hand and Discover What Lies Beneath the Bridge: The cannibal case of José Dorcel Vargas Gómez

On a February morning in 1999, two young men walking along the Torbes River in Tariba, Táchira state, discovered a severed hand and foot on the riverbank. What they found inside the shack beneath Libertador Bridge defied explanation: human heads, seasoned organs in containers, and evidence of systematic consumption. The man arrested had confessed to the exact same crimes four years earlier-and the state had released him anyway.

In this episode, we trace how a documented confession to murder and cannibalism in 1995, a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and a signed psychiatric order somehow resulted in the suspect walking free for two years without supervision or follow-up. Between 1997 and 1999, men disappeared from Tariba and San Cristóbal-young, homeless, marginal-matching the profile Dorcel described. The investigation uncovers not just the crimes of one disturbed man, but the bureaucratic collapse that allowed them to continue.

Victim: Cruz Baltazar Moreno (confirmed); multiple additional victims identified between 1995-1999
Date: January 26, 1995 (first disappearance); February 12, 1999 (discovery and second arrest)
Location: Under Libertador Bridge, Tariba, Táchira state, Venezuela; Torbes River
Status: Convicted; unresolved victim count and unanswered questions regarding potential accomplices

- A man confessed to killing and eating another person in 1995, was hospitalized with a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis, and received a psychiatric placement order-which was issued one week after he was already released and lost to the system.
- Two years passed with zero supervision or follow-up before his second arrest, during which an estimated twenty to forty people disappeared from the region matching his victim profile.
- The forensic evidence showed anatomically precise cuts that raised questions about whether one homeless man with a machete could have produced them, yet no formal investigation into possible accomplices was completed.
- Among the possible victims during the period of impunity was Antonio López, the same homeless witness who had reported the first crime in 1995 and triggered the initial arrest.

José Dorcel Vargas Gómez, Tariba Táchira Venezuela, 1995 cannibalism murder case, 1999 arrest, serial killer, missing persons, forensic evidence gaps, psychiatric system failure, true crime English

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

To listen ad-free and access premium episodes, start your 30-day free trial at obomedia.com

OBOMEDIA presents true crime storiesa true crime podcast built on real cases.

Every true crime story in our crime files follows the crime investigation from the missing person report to the trial: investigators and police building a murder case, a police investigation gone cold, justice for the victim and those who survived.

We open the unsolved murder, the cold case reopened decades later, the mysterious death, the disappearance, the serial killer, the family murder, the murder mystery; the missing persons a missing woman, a missing girl, a missing man found dead and the missing and murdered.

From the infamous case to the unsolved case, from classic true crime to dark true crime and disturbing true crime: true crime reports, real crime stories, real murder cases, true murder stories and unsolved mysteries one true crime case at a time, from the OBOMEDIA true crime vault.

© 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text and related materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing and business inquirie