What should have been a routine overnight stop has turned into a frightening international mystery.
An American Airlines flight attendant has disappeared in Colombia during a crew layover, leaving friends, coworkers, and authorities scrambling to figure out what happened.
Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, 32, is based out of Dallas-Fort Worth and had arrived in Medellín late Saturday night on a flight from Miami, according to reports. He and the rest of the crew were only expected to stay overnight before heading back to the United States early Sunday morning.
But Molina never made it back to the airport.
Authorities say the last confirmed sighting of him was in Medellín’s La América neighborhood in the early hours of Sunday. After that, his whereabouts became a mystery.
Now investigators are trying to piece together his final known movements—and the details are only making the case more unsettling.
A close friend told local media that Molina had allegedly been invited out to party and was later found disoriented and taken to a medical center. Exactly when that happened, what condition he was in, and how he may have vanished again afterward remain unclear.
The last known trace of Molina was reportedly a message sent in the early morning hours sharing his location at an Airbnb in the El Poblado neighborhood, about 12 miles from Medellín’s main airport.
Since then, nothing.
Missing persons reports have now been filed in both Dallas and Medellín as fear grows over his unexplained disappearance. American Airlines has also contacted the U.S. embassy in Colombia and said it is working with local law enforcement while supporting Molina’s family.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants has also said it is backing efforts to find him.
The longer he remains missing, the more troubling the situation becomes.
Experts say investigators will likely focus on tracking his last known locations, including any bars, restaurants, or properties he may have visited, while also reviewing surveillance footage and cellphone data to try to map out where he went.
For now, though, the case remains filled with unanswered questions.
A flight attendant landed in Colombia for what should have been a short crew stop. Hours later, he was gone—and no one seems to know why.