Bodies found in Colombia may be those of missing journalists

Authorities in Colombia and Ecuador are working to determine if bodies discovered Thursday are of an Ecuadorian press team abducted along the Colombian border with Ecuador.

Posted 11:02 p.m. Jun 22, 2018 — Updated 11:02 p.m. Jun 22, 2018

Ana Melgar

and

Joe Sterling (CNN)

(CNN) — Authorities in Colombia and Ecuador are working to determine if bodies discovered Thursday are of an Ecuadorian press team abducted along the Colombian border with Ecuador.

According to both governments, through official Twitter posts and a statement released by the Ecuadorians, both countries are in the process of identifying the bodies.

Journalists Javier Ortega and Paúl Rivas and their driver, Efraín Segarra, were abducted in March.

Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno said in April the government of Ecuador had information confirming the killings of the El Comercio newspaper team.

In a tweet Thursday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the bodies found "could correspond to the bodies of the three journalists," adding that they were working to verify their identities.

Colombian and Ecuadorian authorities believe they were abducted and killed by an offshoot of the guerrilla group FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said in a tweet the bodies were found in the south of the country and that forensic examinations were taking place in Cali.

Ecuadorian authorities and relatives of the journalists have traveled to Cali to "participate in the process of analysis and recognition of the remains found," Ecuador's National Secretary of Communication office said.

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