• The heroic story of the four children lost in the Colombian Amazon
  • Expectation Almost a hundred indigenous people join the search for the four missing children in Colombia

The military believes that children go alone, that no adult guides their steps through the jungle. The grandmother of the children assured this Wednesday that her grandchildren are safe with some indigenous people and that she will soon be able to hug them.

"Hope is not lost," insist the Colombian Army's Special Forces. "A little more than 500 meters west of the crash site, sneakers, a diaper and a towel were found. And 420 meters northwest of the site of the accident, a diaper, a cell phone case and a teapot lid, "reads a statement from the military command.

"We have found footprints of small flip-flops, we have found very small bare foot prints and everything indicates that the children are definitely alone. We have never found a footprint of a large shoe," said Colonel Gustavo Narváez.

"He looked at it and told me that two children have injuries. But the biggest one takes care of them and cleans them with any little thing," the grandmother, María Fátima Valencia, told the Colombian magazine Semana, after maintaining contact, via mobile, with a shaman who is in the area. "He told me that the Indians have them surrounded, that the children are alive and they will find them. The children are alive, thank God. I hope they come because they already got a lot of people there."

Despite the time that has elapsed and the extreme conditions that the four brothers would be enduring in the heart of the virgin forest, in Colombia they hope to rescue them alive.

Hence, the Government has reinforced the large group that is looking for them with 80 indigenous people from different places and ethnic groups, including the Nukak-makú, who best know the jungle where the plane in which Lesly, 13 years old, fell; Soleiny, nine; Tien Noriel, four; and Cristin Neriman, just 11 months old. Also on the plane were his mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, 33, the pilot, Hernando Murcia, and Herman Mendoza, an indigenous leader. The three died in the accident and their mortal remains were transferred to Legal Medicine of Villavicencio, capital of Meta, to perform the autopsy.

Operation Hope

Since the plane appeared two weeks after the accident, which occurred on May 1 in the department of Caquetá, in the south of the country, and found only the bodies of the three adults inside, they began Operation Hope thinking that the children would be sheltered in the vicinity.

At first there were 60 soldiers who combed the area. Later they increased the contingent to 150 uniformed and added about thirty indigenous people who know how to move through the jungle. And on Tuesday almost a hundred were added.

"We had an area of 19x17 kilometers and now we are covering an area of 20x20 kilometers," Colonel Narváez said.

In addition to wild animals such as ocelots, jaguars and the difficulty of feeding, the brothers, of the Huitoto ethnic group, must face the storms and floods of these days. But having grown up in a similar environment, the military hopes they can overcome so much adversity.

The children's father, Manuel Ranoque, governor of the Puerto Sábalo Los Monos community, is also participating in the search. A month before the incident, he had to leave his hamlet due to threats from a criminal gang about which they have not given further details.

He traveled to San José del Guaviare, capital of the department of Guaviare, where his family was due to arrive on May 1. "With great strength I hope that soon they find the children, that very soon they can bring them home," he said at the beginning of Operation Hope. A desire shared by all his compatriots.

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