A court in Ecuador has ordered the arrest of sixteen military personnel in connection with the disappearance of four boys, who are also suspected of murder. Last week, four charred and unrecognizable bodies were found near an air force base.
The prosecution announced today that the bodies belong to the missing boys. The boys, aged between 11 and 15, disappeared on December 8 in the city of Guayaquil.
According to one of the fathers, they had been playing football in the street. News agency AP reported that the day after their disappearance, police obtained surveillance footage showing at least two boys being taken away by uniformed military personnel.
One of the soldiers is seen hitting a boy on the head. Despite this evidence, it took nearly two weeks for an investigation into the military’s involvement to begin, following demands from the families on local news and social media.
Last week, military spokespeople stated that the four boys were detained for theft and taken to a military base, from where they were allegedly released after some time. On the day the bodies were discovered, the sixteen soldiers were placed in military detention.
According to the families’ lawyers, the arrest of the boys by the military was not documented, and no information has been released about the alleged theft.
Source: NOS