Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina missing American Airlines flight attendant found dead as autopsy being performed after flight crew went out partying during layover, including mixing with individuals known for committing theft using local drug scopolamine.
Authorities in Medellín, Colombia have discovered a body during the search for a missing American Airlines flight attendant who vanished while on a layover, officials confirmed Friday.
Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez said a ‘lifeless body’ was found between the rural municipalities of Jericó and Puente Iglesias. He noted there is a ‘very high probability’ the remains belong to the missing crew member, identified as Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina.
The body has been transported to the city’s coroner’s office for formal identification.
Missing flight attendant ended up mixing with criminal element
‘We express our solidarity to his family and friends,’ Gutiérrez said in a statement, adding that he personally informed the victim’s father, who is currently in Medellín.
In a press conference on Thursday, Manuel Villa Mejía, secretary of security of Medellín, said investigators identified the people last seen with Gutierrez Molina, and that they had a history of committing theft using scopolamine, an incapacitating drug known as ‘devil’s breath’ with a history of being used in assaults in the country.
The flight attendant disappeared during a layover, prompting a search effort after the 32-year-old failed to return to his hotel. Attempts to contact Molina were unsuccessful, and his phone was later detected pinging in two separate locations within Medellín — both far from where he was expected to be staying.
Circumstances surrounding disappearance of AA flight attendant being investigated
Adding to the uncertainty surrounding his disappearance, a fellow flight attendant who had gone out with Molina the night he vanished reportedly told friends she could not recall parts of the evening, according to a friend identified as Sharom Gil.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death. Additional details have not yet been released.
Molina was a flight crew member with American Airlines based out of Dallas-Fort Worth and had arrived in Medellín from a flight that had departed Miami on March 21.
He was scheduled to work a return flight the next morning after a brief overnight stay, but never made it back to the Medellín airport.
Molina’s close friend told Telemedellín that the flight attendant had allegedly been invited to go out and party — and was later found disoriented and taken to a medical center.
Molina was last heard from when he sent a message Sunday morning sharing his location at an Airbnb in the El Poblado neighborhood, about 12 miles from Medellín’s José María Córdova International Airport.
What is scopolamine?
According to the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, scopolamine has been used for years to carry out robberies of people targeted while visiting bars and nightclubs in Medellín, Cartagena, and Bogotá.
The drug is a sedative that often leaves the victim disoriented, with no memory and sedated, “so they are easily robbed.”
The embassy said that if the drug is ingested or exposed, it can leave a victim unconscious for 24 hours or more and that overdoses can cause respiratory failure and death.
Dr. Jairo Noreña said scopolamine is an extract from a plant found in the country, and that the plant’s seeds can be crushed into an odorless, tasteless powder that can be mixed into drinks. Authorities in Colombia said the drug is common enough that some bars and clubs warn customers with signs that urge them to stay alert and report anything suspicious.
No suspects have been arrested in the discovery of the body presumed to be that of the missing AA flight attendant and no cause of death has been revealed.
In a statement, American Airlines said it is working closely with authorities and supporting the family during the ongoing investigation.
