Former Runway Model Living on Medellín's Streets

Ingrid Karina is a Colombian woman from Ocaña, in the north of the country, who says she began modelling at 15 and worked for the agency Stock Models. According to El País, she also says she was married for 20 years, speaks seven languages and holds three nationalities. The newspaper notes that it could not independently verify these claims about her past.

In 2024 a video of her went viral, with more than 43 million views. It showed her living in the area of Medellín known as El Bronx. In the video she told the story of her career as a model and spoke about her use of drugs. El País says her situation appeared to be linked to circumstances of a personal and emotional kind, without giving more detail. She said that she had learned to survive and that loneliness was the hardest thing. She is quoted as saying that she does not know how to kill or to steal, but has to look after herself. She also said she had three children and had given her best years to them.

Her son, who identifies himself as Juan Antonio, then opened a TikTok account in her name so that she would have a source of income once she recovers, since she did not yet have a phone to manage it.

El Tiempo reported in January 2025 that content creators had urged her to enter a rehabilitation centre. In later videos she described painful events, including the death of her seven-year-old daughter and domestic violence from her former husband. She said that these experiences were linked to the hard choices that came after her years as a model.

She reappeared on social media with a video, watched more than a million times, about her recovery and her life before she was discovered. She and her son now run an account where they post about their lives.