A body was found on Friday in the search for a missing American Airlines flight attendant in Medellin, Colombia.
Medellin Mayor Fico Gutierrez announced the discovery during the search for Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen and North Texas resident who vanished on March 21 after a night out with a fellow flight attendant.
The pair visited a bar in Medellin’s El Poblado neighborhood, popular with international tourists, according to family, friends, and Colombian officials. Gutierrez Molina was scheduled to work a return flight from Medellin to Miami on Sunday.
His longtime partner, Ernesto Carranza, grew concerned Sunday morning after failing to reach him. Gutierrez Molina’s phone later pinged at two locations in Medellin, far from his hotel.
“Both locations were nowhere near where he was supposed to sleep for the night,” Carranza said, per CBS News Texas.
A friend, Sharom Gil, said the other flight attendant who went out with Gutierrez Molina that Saturday could not recall parts of the night, and thought perhaps they were drugged.
Colombian authorities have identified individuals last seen with Molina, noting their history of theft using scopolamine, known as “devil’s breath.” The U.S. Embassy warns that this incapacitating drug can leave victims unconscious for over 24 hours when secretly mixed into drinks, and overdoses may lead to respiratory failure or death. An estimated 50,000 scopolamine incidents occur every year in Colombia, Sociedad reported.
Gutierrez said a “lifeless body” turned up between the municipalities of Jerico and Puente Iglesias in Antioquia. He added that investigators have “very clear clues” about who may be responsible for the death, and they are considering the extradition of the suspects, Sociedad reported.
“There is a very high probability that it is this person,” he said in a social media post, adding that the body is being taken to the coroner’s office in Medellin for identification. “We express our solidarity to his family and friends. I have just personally delivered the painful news to his father, who is in Medellin.”
The neighborhood where Gutierrez Molina and his colleague visited on Saturday is known for its restaurants, hotels, and bars, but it is also a known hunting ground for criminal networks that use the drug scopolamine to incapacitate and rob unsuspecting tourists, according to the U.S. Embassy and Colombian authorities.
American Airlines stated it was “actively engaged with local law enforcement officials in their investigation and doing all we can to support our team member’s family during this time.”
The U.S. Embassy in Colombia told CBS that it was “restricted from speaking about most individual cases due to federal privacy laws.”
The State Department said it was “aware” of “reports” of Gutierrez Molina’s disappearance and was “closely tracking the situation.”
“The Trump Administration has no greater priority than the safety and security of Americans, and the State Department stands ready to provide all consular assistance to Americans in need abroad,” the State Department said Thursday, per CBS.
