Kidnappers Kill Woman Who Took Dad’s Place

An act of bravery took a tragic turn in Colombia when authorities discovered the body of a 25-year-old woman who had exchanged herself for her kidnapped father.

The army said Wednesday that officials have found the body of Melina Pereira, who had been held since April by kidnappers identifying themselves as members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. She was shot three times in the back at close range, military officials said.

Pereira exchanged herself for her father, 65-year-old Antonio Pereira, after he fell ill while being held.

After the exchange, the family was unable to come up with the ransom needed to secure the woman’s release. The amount of ransom sought was not disclosed.

According to the army, when the family asked the rebels to lower their demand, the guerrillas responded by sending a note saying the woman had been killed and giving the location of the body.

Pereira’s body was recovered by authorities Friday in northern Santander state, the army said.

In another deadly kidnapping case reported Wednesday, the military accused FARC rebels of assassinating a retired air force colonel they kidnapped in September--even though his family paid a $15,000 ransom.

The body of 68-year-old Javier Cuadros was found Saturday on a road outside the town of Fusagasuga, 18 miles southwest of Bogota. He had been shot from behind, the military said.

Also Wednesday, authorities said a union leader and his bodyguard, abducted last week by right-wing paramilitary fighters, were shot to death.

Government officials had been pleading for the release of Aury Sara since Monday, when the rightist United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, announced it was holding him hostage.

Colombia has an average of 3,000 kidnappings a year, by far the most of any nation. Leftist rebels are responsible for most of the abductions, which are committed for ransom or to apply political pressure. Common criminal gangs also kidnap, sometimes pretending to be guerrillas.