December 24th 2023.
Police are still investigating Colin Armstrong's kidnapping last week and whether or not an insider was involved. The 63-year-old British man and his Colombian romantic partner, Katherine Paolo Santos, were taken by a group of 15 men in fake police uniforms. After his rescue on Wednesday, Colin is said to be safe and healthy.
Hours after the kidnapping, Katherine showed up at a home believed to belong to Colin's son with a vest she said was filled with explosives. Bomb disposal experts in protective gear removed the vest and found it to be fake. Nonetheless, nine arrests were made and a huge haul of guns, grenades, detonators, and drugs were confiscated.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and British intelligence officers were also involved in the investigation. Now, they are investigating whether Colin's kidnappers had help from someone with insider knowledge. General Freddy Sarzosa Guerra, the police’s director of investigations, said: ‘This is being investigated as a kidnap for money and the motive was an economic one.’
Questions have been raised as to how the kidnappers knew where Colin was last Saturday. He splits his time between several homes both in Ecuador and his country estate in Yorkshire. Evidence found during raids this week suggest that the kidnapping was planned in meticulous detail. Gang members arrived at Rodeo Grande, where the Armstrong family crest hangs next to the gate, in the early hours of Saturday morning. Staff members who tried to stop them were beaten as they made their way to the room where ‘Mr Colin’ was sleeping.
The incident has left a lasting impression on the Armstrong family, with blood stains on the sheets and floor of one room visible in a video made by a member of staff in the aftermath of the raid. The police investigation is still ongoing and the family continues to hope for a safe resolution.
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