Far-right Colombian paramilitaries said Tuesday they were holding three foreigners in the jungle on the Panamanian border–apparently the Canadian-American author of a best-selling book about traveling in danger zones and two American companions.
Panamanian and U.S. officials said writer Robert Young Pelton, 47, disappeared over the weekend in the Darien Gap along with Mark Wedeven and Megan Smaker, both 22.
Pelton is the author of “The World’s Most Dangerous Places.”
Tuesday night, police searchers found the bodies of three people who police said had been killed in the area. But it was unclear whether those killed were the missing journalists because authorities also were looking for three Indians from Paya believed to have been killed in fighting.
Carlos Castano, commander of the 10,000-strong United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia told Reuters in an e-mail that three foreigners were being held “for their own safety” following combat with Marxist rebels, and would be freed soon.
