according to a translation made by the united states embassy of an article published on april 16, 1948, by the newspaper "el tiempo" , roa was 25 years old at the time of his death. he was baptized in the church of the egipto neighborhood in bogotá and was the youngest of six brothers. he lived for some time in the ricaurte neighborhood (also in bogota) at calle 17-s no.16-52, and was working as a painter. roa then began to suffer from schizophrenia and was interned in a clinic in sibaté.