Colombian authorities Thursday found out that a missing Colombian soldier
who was assumed kidnapped for two years had been hiding
in his home all this time.
Soldier Miguel Torres disappeared when on patrol in the Sumapaz region just south of his native Bogota in the beginning of 2007. His family reported him missing and authorities assumed he had been captured by guerrillas.
The wife of Torres, fueling the assumption her husband was kidnapped, appeared on Colombian radio several time, sending messages to her disappeared husband.
As the family of a member of the military missing in action, the Torres household received part of the soldier’s salary and benefits.
When Torres left the house to break up a fight between his daughter and another minor, authorities discovered he had not been kidnapped, but simply evading his military responsibilities while receiving benefits at home.
Torres was taken into custody and will have to explain his actions before a judge.