Overview
- Two men were captured in Peru and arrested in connection with the March death of Eric Fernando Gutiérrez Molina, and authorities say the pair were apprehended on July 26 with one transferred to Colombia and the other held in Peru pending extradition.
- Gutiérrez Molina, a 32-year-old American Airlines flight attendant based in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, disappeared during a Medellín layover after a night out on March 21 and his body was later found between the municipalities of Jericó and Puente Iglesias.
- The U.S. Embassy in Bogotá and Colombian officials say investigators believe the suspects drugged and murdered Gutiérrez Molina, and local authorities have linked the case to methods that include scopolamine, a drug reported in tourist-targeting thefts.
- U.S. Homeland Security Investigations offices in Bogotá and Lima worked with Colombian and Peruvian police to locate the suspects and prosecutors in Colombia say the detainees face serious charges including aggravated homicide and aggravated robbery as judicial steps move forward.
- The family has sought help to repatriate his body and American Airlines called the death heartbreaking, and the arrests are likely to raise renewed attention to safety for visitors in Medellín and to the pace of multinational extradition and court proceedings.