7-Year-Old Kidnap Victim Found Dead

The body of a 7-year-old boy was dumped on the doorstep of his home in southwestern Colombia three days after he was kidnapped, police said. Victor Alejandro Alvarez, the son of a shopkeeper in Popayan, was abducted on his way to school, and his captors demanded $10,000 ransom. The boy’s cash-strapped family asked for proof he was alive, police said. No proof was provided, and the boy’s body was discovered after his father was awakened by an anonymous phone call. Initial examinations indicated that the child may have been beaten and strangled to death the day he was abducted, police said.