AN Argentinian model and singer has been shot dead in Mexico just days before he was due to appear on the country’s version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Fede Dorcaz, 29, was killed in a suspected armed robbery after leaving a rehearsal for hit TV show Las Estrellas Bailan En Hoy – the Mexican equivalent of Strictly.
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He had been driving home to the house he shared with his influencer girlfriend Mariana Avila when tragedy struck.
The artist was assassinated on Thursday night in Mexico City. According to local reports, the attack happened as Fede tried to exit a ring road. He was shot in the neck and died instantly.
Police are now hunting four men who fled the scene on two motorbikes.
A spokesman for the Mexico City Secretariat of Public Safety said: “Video surveillance cameras in the area are being analysed to identify the likely perpetrators who, according to initial reports, were travelling on two motorcycles.”
Local media reports say Fede may have resisted an armed hold-up, though this has not been officially confirmed by police or city authorities.
Fede, who was born in Mar del Plata on Argentina’s Atlantic coast, had spent part of his childhood in Majorca before moving to Mexico two years ago to launch his singing career.
His rise to fame was described as “meteoric” by Rolling Stone magazine, which hailed him in May as “the rising Latin star ready to redefine global Latin pop.”
After starting out as a model, he switched to music and scored huge hits across Latin America and beyond, including ‘Cara Bonita’ (which translates as Pretty Face) and ‘Moka’, a duet with his partner Mariana.
Fede and Mariana had been chosen to perform together on Las Estrellas Bailan En Hoy – known in English as Stars Dance Today.
The show is described online as a close Mexican version of the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing, and its new season was due to start next week.
Following his death, a tribute on the show’s official Instagram account said: “The HOY family mourns the sad passing of our friend and colleague, Fede Dorcaz.
“We share in the grief felt by his entire family, his parents and his girlfriend Mariana Avila.
“Mariana and Fede were one of the couples scheduled to appear in the new season of Las Estrellas Bailan en Hoy.
“Fede leaves a huge void in our team. His memory and his passion will continue to inspire us forever.
“Rest in peace, Fede Dorcaz.”
Fede’s Venezuelan girlfriend Mariana, who has millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, shared an emotional post on X alongside a TV interview of her partner talking about his love for his new life in Mexico.
She wrote: “You loved Mexico with all your being, just as everyone who knew you loved you”
Fans flooded her page with tributes. One wrote: “It’s a shame that such horrible people exist in this world. No-one, Fede included, deserved something this cruel.”
Another added: “I hope and prey that God gives you a long of peace and tranquility at such a difficult moment in your life.”
Police are continuing their hunt for the four suspects. No arrests have yet been made.
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Fede, who had lived in Majorca since the age of 13 was the face of designer Giorgio Armani.
“It was incredible, I didn’t have to work for any other brand,” he said in an interview with Bulletin sister paper Ultima Hora in September 2022. He modelled for Armani and Dolce Gabanna in Milan.
Fede wrote on his website: “I want to be something big”
“I know I want to be an international singer I dram about it every night,” he said.
