Investigators say Eric Fernando Gutiérrez Molina vanished during a crew layover and may have been drugged before he failed to report for a flight to Miami.
MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA — Colombian authorities and the family of an American Airlines flight attendant were searching Friday for Eric Fernando Gutiérrez Molina, a 32-year-old Dallas-Fort Worth-based crew member who disappeared during a layover in Medellín and did not report for his scheduled flight back to Miami.
The case has drawn attention in both Colombia and the United States because Gutiérrez Molina vanished while traveling for work, because investigators say he may have been drugged, and because officials now say the people last seen with him have a criminal history tied to theft cases. Medellín authorities say they have identified phones and vehicles linked to people in his final known circle, while his family, union and airline say they are pressing for answers as the search enters another day.
Officials say Gutiérrez Molina arrived in Medellín on March 21 on an American Airlines flight from Miami as part of a working crew layover. That night, according to Medellín Security Secretary Manuel Villa Mejía, he went out in the El Poblado area with colleagues before the group moved on to another establishment. By early Sunday, March 22, his movements had become harder to trace. Authorities say he was last seen in the early morning hours after a night out, and friends say he sent a location from an Airbnb in El Poblado before contact stopped. He was expected to work a return flight to Miami later that day but never showed up. Villa Mejía said the city’s priority was finding him “safe and sound,” and authorities activated a missing-person search protocol after his whereabouts became unknown.
As investigators pieced together his last known hours, friends and relatives began building their own timeline. Ernesto Carranza, Gutiérrez Molina’s longtime partner, told television interviewers that the disappearance has left him shattered but still hopeful that he is alive. Sharom Gil, a close friend, said people who know him quickly realized something was wrong because he stopped responding and missed a required work assignment. Colombian officials say one female colleague who was with him that night also reported memory gaps, raising concern that she may have been drugged as well. Authorities have said they are examining whether scopolamine, a drug long associated in Colombia with robbery cases, played a role. Investigators have not announced an arrest, filed charges, or publicly identified the people they believe were last with him, but they say those individuals have prior histories connected to similar crimes. What happened after the last confirmed sightings remains unknown.
The search has focused attention on Medellín’s nightlife districts and on the vulnerability of travelers moving through unfamiliar areas during short layovers. El Poblado, where Gutiérrez Molina and coworkers were out, is one of the city’s best-known entertainment zones and a common stop for tourists and airline crews. But it has also been repeatedly mentioned in public warnings about robberies and drugging cases involving nightlife venues, rides and short-term rentals. The U.S. State Department continues to list Colombia under a travel advisory urging Americans to reconsider travel because of crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping concerns, while security alerts in recent years have warned about criminals using drugs to incapacitate victims. In that context, this case has landed with particular force among aviation workers, who often move through cities on brief overnight stays and are expected back at the airport on a strict schedule.
The formal investigation now spans several tracks. Medellín officials say detectives have been reviewing surveillance footage, tracing cellphone activity and analyzing vehicle information linked to the people last seen with Gutiérrez Molina. Authorities have also worked with his family after his father traveled to Colombia to assist in the search on the ground. In the United States, reports have been filed in Texas, and the case has drawn support from American agencies that can assist Colombian authorities even though the investigation remains under local jurisdiction. American Airlines has said it is cooperating with law enforcement and supporting Gutiérrez Molina’s family and colleagues. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents cabin crew at the airline, has also said it is backing efforts to locate him. As of Friday, officials had not announced a public briefing with a major breakthrough, had not released a detailed suspect narrative, and had not said whether new search areas were being added beyond the locations already flagged through phone and witness evidence.
For those close to him, the story has unfolded in a painful mix of waiting, rumor and fragments of evidence. Carranza has spoken publicly about holding onto hope while living with the uncertainty of each passing hour. Gil described Gutiérrez Molina as a joyful presence whose absence is impossible to explain away as a simple missed call or delayed check-in. Their comments have added a human frame to a case otherwise driven by police language about devices, vehicles and protocols. At the same time, the scene in Medellín has been defined by unanswered questions: whether he willingly left the final venue, whether he was targeted, whether his phone was moving with him or without him, and whether any witness can fill in the missing stretch of time before he vanished. Those unknowns now sit at the center of a search that has stretched from a nightlife district in Medellín to family and coworkers waiting in Texas and Florida for a call with concrete news.
By Friday, the case remained open with no public sign that Gutiérrez Molina had been found. The next milestone is expected to come from Colombian investigators as they continue interviews, review digital evidence and decide whether the material gathered so far supports arrests or a more specific account of his final movements.
Author note: Last updated March 27, 2026.