Police are looking for the father of kidnapped football player Luis Diaz in a forest in northern Colombia.
On Saturday, as Luis Manuel Díaz and his spouse were at a gas station in the little town of Barrancas, they were kidnapped by armed men riding motorcycles.
Police erected barriers around the town close to Colombia’s border with Venezuela, and within hours, they were able to save the mother of the Liverpool player, Cilenis Marulanda.
But his father is still missing.
A cloud forest-covered mountain range that crosses both countries has been searched by air and land patrols, as well as members of the nation’s special forces.
Additionally, $48,0000 (£39,000) in rewards have been offered by the police for information that results in Diaz’s father’s rescue.
The potential that he was carried into Venezuela, where he would be safe from Colombian authorities, was not ruled out, according to officials.
One of Colombia’s most gifted players, Díaz signed a £55 million contract to join Liverpool last year.
The 26-year-old striker did not play in Liverpool’s Sunday afternoon match against Nottingham Forest.
His teammates showed their support for the Colombian by raising one of his jerseys in the air following his game-winning goal that gave them a 3-0 victory.
Díaz’s parents were kidnapped at a time when kidnappings in Colombia for ransom and corporate extortion are on the rise, despite efforts by the country’s first left-wing government to mediate ceasefires with rebel factions.
For years, the nation’s rebel and criminal organisations have abducted citizens and held them ransom to fund their operations.
None of the armed organisations active in Colombia have acknowledged taking Diaz’s parents hostage to date.
