Bobby Flores suffered a brutal robbery this Thursday at his Saavedra home. The journalist and host was inside the residence with his wife, Mariana Armento, and two of their three children, Benicio and Astor, when three intruders entered the dwelling and restrained them. According to early reports, the intruders entered without forcing the door, wore hooded sweatshirts, dark clothing and gloves, and confined the four family members to their bedrooms.
After the criminals fled with backpacks, it was Bobby himself who called 911. All four family members received medical attention on site. According to accounts of the incident, Flores developed a hypertensive episode and a jaw trauma; Mariana, 55, underwent a medical check-up, while Benicio and Astor suffered injuries and swelling in their hands from being restrained. None of them needed to be transported to a hospital.
The investigation was handed over to the Saavedra-Núñez Prosecutor’s Office, and the City Police are reviewing security camera footage from the area to reconstruct how the criminals gained entry and to identify those responsible.
The episode again places Bobby Flores’s family at the center of the scene, although it is not the first time they have faced insecurity at that same home. In 2014, the journalist’s wife and their children, who were then only 4 and 9 years old, had been victims of another violent assault while Flores was away from the house. On that occasion, a group of criminals entered the residence, threatened and tied up Mariana and the children, and stole money, valuables, electronics, Mariana’s car, and material from Bobby’s music collection.
More than a decade later, the family faces a similar episode in the same home. Behind the police report lies a family history that Bobby had long kept relatively out of the spotlight: his relationship with Mariana Armento, a couple that has been together for more than two decades, and their three children.
Mariana Armento, the woman who captured Bobby Flores’ heart
Mariana Armento worked as a radio producer in the same building where Bobby Flores worked when he first saw her. The spark was immediate, though his initial reaction was almost resistant. In an interview published by Perfil in 2015, the host recalled that upon seeing her he thought: “Don’t pay attention to that girl, because I’m going to marry her.”
Bobby was 40 when he finally married Mariana and described that moment with a vivid phrase: “I abandoned the pirate ship and settled down.” For him, the relationship also marked a personal change, as he said that until then he was “a virgin at living with a partner.”
But the most revealing part of that interview was the way he spoke of Mariana after so many years together. Asked what he liked most about her, he didn’t choose a conventional trait: “Even today what I like most about her is watching her walk.”
He also described her as a restless woman, the kind who always has a project in mind. “She’s difficult, she doesn’t leave me alone, she pushes me. She’s always planning something,” Bobby said about his partner.
The couple has more than two decades of history. On August 5 of this year, Bobby publicly celebrated that bond again with a photograph beside Mariana on Instagram. “23 years together, I love you!”, he wrote alongside the image.
A family of three children
Bobby Flores and Mariana Armento formed a family with three children: Clementina, Benicio and Astor. In that 2015 Perfil interview, the host mentioned them as 21, 10 and 5 years old, respectively.
Over time, Bobby also shared some family moments on his social networks. In 2022, for example, he posted a photo of Mariana with their two sons and dedicated a Mother’s Day message: “The prettiest mom of the loveliest kids. Happy day. I love you.”
It is precisely Benicio and Astor who were at the Saavedra family home this Thursday alongside Bobby and Mariana when the robbery occurred. According to early reports, the youths are currently 21 and 16 years old, and both suffered injuries and swelling in their hands from being restrained. All four family members received on-site assistance and did not need to be transported to a hospital.
The couple’s third daughter is Clementina, the eldest of the three siblings. Her name appears in the references that Bobby made publicly about his family over the years.
The family history of Bobby and Mariana, moreover, is marked by a prior security episode. In 2014, when Benicio and Astor were still very young, Mariana and her children were victims of another violent robbery in the same Saavedra home.
Today, the family again finds themselves at the center of a police report for an incident that occurred in that same home. For Bobby Flores and Mariana Armento, the house they built together with their three children becomes the scene of a difficult moment once again, this time with the entire family present.
