Why . The . Mystery?

"After arduous searching by our military, we have found alive the four children who went missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country."

"I have decided to delete the tweet because the information provided by [the government’s child welfare agency, ICBF] could not be confirmed. I apologize for the confusion."

"The Military Forces and the indigenous communities will continue in their tireless search to give the country the news it is waiting for."

"At this time there is no other priority other than moving forward with the search until you find them. Children’s lives are the most important thing."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro

 

"Information was received from the area assuring contact was made with the four children who were part of the group transported on the aircraft. This report stated that they had been found alive and in good health."

"However, the military forces have not yet been able to establish official contact due to adverse weather conditions and difficult terrain. "

"[Authorities have not been able to] corroborate the information received by the ICBF from various sources."

Colombian child welfare agency statement

The Colombian Air Force has escalated search efforts  (Fuerza Aerea Colombiana)

On Wednesday, the President of Colombia celebrated news that the four children whose mother had perished in a plane crash in a remote jungle area in Colombia's Amazon Basin, had been found, after a ten-day search. Information he said was relayed to him was that an Indigenous Colombian tribe living in isolation in the region had found and were caring for the four children, and that once contact had been made it was arranged to transport the children by sea in a speedboat to Bogota to be reunited with their father.

A day later, the Colombian President had deleted his Wednesday tweet of joyful affirmation the children were safe and en route. Now, the director of the country's child welfare arm informed the media that the children are safe, but communication via satellite had been lost. Teams had been sent to three key areas by the ICBF where they believe the children are to be found, and, said ICBF director Astrid Caceres, she is "very confident" they would be found soon.

 

From a journalist came word that area indigenous communities conveyed the information that the children are in a speedboat with no means of communication, but expected to arrive in a rural area where they could be taken into safe custody. This all began weeks ago, when the plane the children were being flown in from a jungle location to San Jose del Guaviare, a major city in Columbia's Amazon rainforest, experienced engine problems and crashed.

Aboard were the four children, with their mother, the pilot and co-pilot. All the adults died in the crash, but the children were presumed to have survived. In the search that ensued items belonging to the children were discovered and it seemed obvious the children had left the scene of the crash, intending to find help. A search party discovered the plane and the bodies of the three adults at the crash site. A 17-day search commenced involving over 100 soldiers, sniffer dogs and three helicopters.

Although the president made haste to assure his nation that the children were safe and would soon be turned over to the state child welfare authorities, then presumably reunited with their father, the army failed to confirm that the children were safe, which lead to confusion with respect to the president's 'good news' announcement.

According to the owner of the crashed aircraft, Avianline Charters, one of its pilots involved in searching the area was informed the children had been found, and were "being transported by boat down river and they were all alive". At the same time the caution was given that there was a risk to the children safely reaching haven given thunderstorms taking place in the area, that would affect the seaworthiness of the craft they were in.

The group of children, from 11-month-old Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutoy, on up to four-year-old Tien Noiel Ronoque Mucutuy, nine-year-old Soleiny Mucutuy, and big brother of thirteen Lesly Mucutuy, the oldest must have had his young wits about him to guide his younger siblings away from the crash site in search of help. But their very wandering about in the jungle created its own problems, making it extremely difficult for rescue groups to discover their whereabouts.

At one point, a rescue helicopter played a message on loudspeakers from the children's grandmother, who asked them to stop moving about, to enable the rescuers to find them. These are themselves children of aboriginal backgrounds, taught some basic elements of self-preservation in wilderness areas, amidst speculation with respect to how they were able to survive. Authorities believe the children clambered out of the wreckage to begin to move through the jungle to find help.

Once search efforts revealed a "shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches", assumed to have been the work of the children, the army's search efforts intensified, believing there were survivors to be found. A baby's drinking bottle and partially consumed fruit was found, along with scissors, shoes and hair ties lying among branches on the jungle floor.

The downed aircraft's pilot had reported back to base that he was experiencing problems with the engines, and a few moments later the plane disappeared from radar, according to the Colombian disaster response body. Heavy rainfall, along with giant trees growing up to 130 feet in height conspired to make the search, dubbed Operation Hope, even more of a challenge. There are few roads in such remote regions of Colombia, and access via the river is difficult, leaving air transport as the reliable choice.

The Indigenous Huitoto community develops skills in hunting, fishing and gathering, and the children are descended from that community, known for living in harmony with the remote jungle, and dependent on their singular exposure to self-reliance in such settings, which authorities speculate, may very well be the case with the four children. 

 

The Serrania de Chiribiquete national park in the Amazonian jungle departments of Caqueta and Guaviare, Colombia. Four children survived over two weeks in dense rainforest after their plane crashed. Photograph: Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images