Lullacide

Pedro Lopez walked a long, long way. All the way across the Andes mountains, through Colombia, through Ecuador, through Peru. He was always walking. Always moving. The people in each village never knew his name before he had already gone. By the time anyone noticed something was wrong, Pedro was in the next country.

Lopez operated across three South American countries, which significantly delayed his detection and capture.

Pedro had a very hard childhood. He was thrown out of his home at age eight. By the time he was a man, something had gone terribly, terribly wrong in the middle of him. He said he could not stop. He said he did not want to. He had the most frightening eyes anyone had ever looked into.

Lopez had an extremely traumatic childhood, including abuse and abandonment. He later showed no remorse in police interviews.

The Ayacucho tribe in Peru caught Pedro once. They were going to execute him for what he had done in their villages. A missionary convinced them not to. They handed him to the police instead. The police put him in jail. Then they let him go and sent him to Ecuador. This was, in hindsight, a significant mistake.

The Ayacucho tribe captured Lopez. A missionary negotiated his release to Peruvian authorities, who deported him to Ecuador, where he continued killing.

A flash flood in Ecuador did what the police had not. The floodwaters uncovered graves, many graves, in the same field. Then a market vendor caught Pedro trying to lure a young girl away. Pedro was arrested. He confessed. He confessed to so many that the police could not believe the number. Then they went to check. The number was real.

Lopez confessed to over 300 murders. He is believed to be the most prolific serial killer in recorded history, with confirmed victims in the hundreds.

Pedro was sentenced to the maximum prison term allowed. Then he was declared sane and released in 1998. Nobody is entirely sure where Pedro Lopez is today. Interpol still has a warrant. Some monsters are very good at walking. Lock your doors in three countries, just to be safe.

Lopez was released from an Ecuadorian psychiatric hospital in 1998 on $50 bail. His current whereabouts are unknown. He remains on Interpol's wanted list.