An American Airlines flight attendant based at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been reported missing in Colombia after he disappeared during a crew layover in Medellín.
Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, 32, arrived in the city Saturday night on a flight from Miami and was scheduled to return to the United States on a flight to Miami Sunday morning, according to local reports. He never made it back to the hotel or the airport.
Molina and a colleague left their hotel to go out after their overnight layover, a close friend, Sharom Gil, told Telemedellín. The two met a pair of men at a club and decided to “take the party to another place” when the club closed, Gil said.
Molina never returned.
Local authorities in Medellín issued a missing-person alert, saying he was last seen early Sunday in the La America neighborhood, a mostly residential area of the city.
Gil said reports were filed with authorities in both Dallas and Medellín, and that the airline notified the U.S. Embassy in Colombia.
American Airlines said in a statement that it is engaged in the investigation. “We are doing all we can to support our team member’s family during this time,” the carrier said.
The U.S. State Department currently has a Level 3 travel warning for Colombia, advising Americans to reconsider travel because of crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping.
