Body found in Colombia amid search for missing U.S. flight attendant

Colombian officials discovered a body Friday amid the search for a U.S. flight attendant who went missing in the country last weekend.

Medellin Mayor Federico Gutiérrez announced the discovery in a post on X, saying that “a lifeless body has just been found between the municipality of Jericó and Puente Iglesias,” in the northeast region of the South American country.

The mayor said the body was likely that of Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, a 32-year-old American Airlines flight attendant from Texas who vanished while out with colleagues in Medellín, Colombia, during a layover.

“There is a very high probability that it is this person. The lifeless body is being transported to legal medicine in Medellín for identification and recognition,” Gutiérrez wrote on X. “We express our solidarity to his family and friends. I have just personally delivered the painful news to his father, who is in Medellín.”

Gutiérrez also said authorities suspect foul play, adding that officials “have very clear leads on those responsible” and calling for those individuals to be sought through extradition.

The mayor said he informed the U.S. ambassador to Colombia of the discovery. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Gutierrez Molina’s family.

In a news briefing, Medellín Security Secretary Manuel Villa said Gutierrez Molina was in Colombia on business and was out in the city of Itagüí with two co-workers that he identified as a man and a woman. Gutierrez Molina and the man then left the first establishment to go to a second location with others, also in Itagüí.

“And from there, once they left, there has been no further information on the whereabouts of Eric,” Villa said. “The woman arrived at the hotel where she was staying. However, she arrived somewhat disoriented.”

Villa said law enforcement have determined through their investigation that Gutierrez Molina and the woman encountered individuals “with a history of committing theft under the influence of scopolamine.”

The investigation remains under investigation and national police are still deployed throughout the area, Villa said.

Gutierrez Molina’s sister, Mayra Gutierrez, said in a phone call earlier this week that her brother had been out with another crew member over the weekend. She said the family last heard from him in the early hours of Sunday and confirmed that he worked for American Airlines.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement earlier this week, the airline said it is “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,” but did not mention Gutierrez Molina by name.