Tinder Dates And Relationships That Ended In Tragedy
As the world of online dating and dating apps grows, more stories of Tinder dates gone wrong are beginning to surface. These stories are unsettling at worst, but in more than a few instances, Tinder dates have turned deadly.
The stories on this list serve as reminders that the person on the other end of a dating app, no matter how nice they might seem, is ultimately a stranger, and it's worth keeping your guard up until you really get to know someone.
Danueal Drayton Is An Alleged Serial Killer Who Used Tinder To Meet His Victims
In July 2018, police tracked down Danueal Drayton, a man suspected of raping and killing 29-year-old Samantha Stewart, a nurse from Queens, NY, with whom he matched on Tinder. Authorities discovered him in a Los Angeles hotel room, where he was holding another woman prisoner after sexually assaulting her. On July 30, 2018, Drayton pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court to charges relating to the woman in the hotel room; he was charged with sexual assault and attempted murder.
As investigators continued probing into Drayton's past, they began suspecting he was connected to a string of Tinder and rideshare-related sexual assaults and murders. A month prior to Stewart's alleged murder, New York detectives were looking into a Brooklyn woman's report that he raped and choked her after a Tinder date.
According to prosecutors, following his July arrest, Drayton confessed to killing six more victims. Reportedly, two murders took place in Connecticut, one in the Bronx, another in Suffolk County, one in either Nassau County or Queens, and potentially one more in California. It's unclear whether or not Drayton's confession was true.
Drayton has five prior arrests in Connecticut, including a 2011 arrest for strangulation.
A Woman Fell To Her Death After An Argument With A Man She Met On Tinder
Warriena Wright of Wellington, New Zealand, met Gable Tostee on Tinder. A week later, on August 7, 2014, the two met up and went on a date, which ended in the couple going to Tostee's apartment.
Once there, the two reportedly got into an argument, and Tostee allegedly choked the 26-year-old Wright and locked her outside on his balcony. Apparently, Wright tried to escape and fell from the balcony to her death.
For reasons still unknown, Tostee made an audio recording on his phone during the spat. In the audio, which was later played during Tostee's trial, he can be heard shouting to Wright that she was lucky he didn't throw her off the balcony, followed by expletives. Tostee, who was 28 at the time, was arrested for her death but was ultimately acquitted of all charges.
In the ensuing years, Tostee has faced other legal problems, including crashing his car while reportedly driving naked and under the influence.
The Body Of A Woman Was Discovered A Month After She Vanished From A Tinder Date
Sydney Loofe of Lincoln, NE, met 23-year-old Bailey Boswell on Tinder, and the two arranged a date for November 15, 2017. The 24-year-old Loofe was reportedly excited about the date, even taking photos of herself after getting ready and posting them on Snapchat with the caption, "Ready for my date."
The following day, Loofe didn't show up for work or call in, and her family and friends began to worry. They soon arranged a search party, and the FBI got involved in Loofe's disappearance. Investigators were already looking into Bailey Boswell, the woman whom Loofe was last known to be with, as well as Boswell's roommate, 51-year-old Aubrey Trail.
Boswell and Trail's stories changed multiple times, but Trail eventually confessed to murdering Loofe after her body was found dismembered in a rural area a month after she vanished. Boswell and Trail were arrested and put on trial for Loofe's murder. A jury found both parties guilty, and Boswell was sentenced to life in prison, while Trail received the death penalty.
A Medical Student's Boyfriend, Whom She Met On Tinder, Allegedly Killed Her
Medical student Francia Ruth Ibarra met Emmanuel Delani Valdez Bocanegra through Tinder when they were both 26 years old. The two went on several dates, but during their last meetup on December 3, 2016, Ibarra went missing. When police went to Bocanegra's Mexico City home to question him regarding Ibarra's disappearance, they discovered human bones in a garbage bag.
Police believe Ibarra may have turned down Bocanegra's sexual advances, which perhaps angered him and led him to kill her. Allegedly, he then dissolved her body in hydrochloric acid and left the bones on his apartment's balcony. Bocanegra was later arrested for Ibarra's murder.
A Woman's Boyfriend Killed Her After Seeing What He Thought Was A Tinder Notification On Her Phone
Jordan Matthews was a 23-year-old man from Cardiff, United Kingdom, who killed Xixi Bi, a 24-year-old woman whom he was dating, in August 2016. Matthews reportedly saw what he thought was a Tinder notification from someone named “Ben” on Bi's phone. The couple then got into an argument that turned physical when Matthews began beating Bi, breaking her jaw and several ribs. Bi later died at the hospital as a result of her injuries.
Matthews was arrested, and his trial revealed he was both physically and verbally abusive throughout the relationship. Investigators later discovered that Bi didn't even have the Tinder app on her phone. Matthews received an 18-year prison sentence for his crimes.
A Man Tried To Kill His Wife So He Could Be With A Woman He Met On Tinder
In 2015, 37-year-old British army sergeant Emile Cilliers allegedly tried to kill his wife, Victoria, on two different occasions. Cilliers was apparently in a considerable amount of debt and had taken out a sizable life insurance policy on his wife, reportedly upwards of $160,000.
Cilliers also begun a relationship with a woman he met on Tinder named Stefanie Goller, and when he was unable to leave Victoria for Goller, he began planning his wife's murder.
One night in 2015, Cilliers caused a gas leak in the couple's home, then left 40-year-old Victoria in the house while he went to stay elsewhere; however, the plan failed, and Victoria Cilliers survived. Cilliers then suggested his wife go parachuting, and when she agreed, he allegedly tampered with her parachute.
When Victoria's chutes failed after jumping 4,000 feet above Wiltshire, England, she sustained multiple severe injuries, including a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and a spinal injury. Cilliers received an 18-year prison sentence for attempting to murder his wife.