Former drug addict turned influencer Nicol Rescata found shot dead in Ecuadorian factory next to bottle of gasoline, leaves behind four-year-old daughter

An influencer who turned her life around after falling into drug addiction was murdered in Ecuador.

Nicol Montenegro, 23, was found shot dead near a warehouse in Yaguachi, a town in the Pacific coast province of Guayas on Saturday.

The young woman was found lying face down and was shot several times in the head, according to Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo.

Warehouse workers told authorities that they were sleeping inside when they heard multiple shots fired around 3:30 am.

The workers found Montenegro's lifeless body next to a rice grinding machine, about 1,600 feet from the building Saturday afternoon. 

Nicol Montenegro, mother to a four-year-old girl, was found shot dead in Guayas, Ecuador, on Saturday. The 23-year-old used her recovery from addiction to drugs by becoming a social media influencer motivating young people to steer away from narcotics

Nicol Montenegro was known on social media networks as Nicol Rescata for her work with drug addicts  

The suspects left a bottle with gasoline and a box of matches near the body, according to authorities.

It's believed that workers prevented the suspects from setting Montenegro's body on fire after they turned the lights on.

Police had not reported any arrests as of Thursday afternoon. 

Montenegro became a social media darling after recovering from her battle with drug addiction several years ago.

Nicol Rescata pictured on her way to a drug addiction treatment center several years ago

Montenegro, who leaves behind a four-year-old daughter, revealed in June that she was pregnant

Nicol Montenegro develop a following on her social media networks for posting videos of her visits and motivational talks with young people recovering from addiction to drugs

She later used her own experiences to steer away young people from falling into the same path.

She developed a strong following on YouTube and TikTok, where she had more than 80,000 followers, posting videos of her visits and motivational talks with recovering addicts.

Montenegro was a mother to a four-year-old girl and took to Facebook in June to reveal she was pregnant.

Her family identified her body at a local morgue and transported it to the province of Los Rïos, south of the country's capital, Quito, and held a funeral service Sunday in her hometown of Babahoyo. 

Ecuadorian artist Jeyder Rescata, who also recovered from drug addiction, lamented Montenegro's death.

'They don't know how this news affected me,' he wrote on Instagram. 'You had changed so much for the better, my girl, what happened.'