From 1992 young boys between the ages of 6 and 16 started to disappear very frequently from the streets of Columbia. Soon clusters of bodies began popping up all over Columbia and the authorities paid little regard to all of this until in 1997 a number of mass graves were discovered. The victims all bore similar marks. They had all been raped and tortured, many of them had endured prolonged torture.

Garavito was arrested after a rape he attempted was interrupted by a nearby homeless man. The police suspected Garavito might be the person responsible for all the murdered children and questioned him at length. He broke down and confessed. His fate was sealed when it was discovered that he had an eyesight condition that perfectly matched a pair of glasses found at one of the mass graves. To further cement the case some detectives took DNA samples from his prison cell.

He confessed to murdering 140 and was charged with killing a total of 172. He was found guilty of murdering 138 and sentenced to 1,853 years. However, Columbia has a maximum length of imprisonment of 40 years and because he has helped the police find the bodies his sentence was further reduced to 22 years. He is accordingly scheduled to be released in 2021. There are special provisions in Columbian law which prevent sentences for crimes against children being reduced and the reality should be that Garavito will be not be released for a long time. Having said that, there are a wealth of rumours that he has already been released.

It is said he is potentially responsible for up to 400 murders.