The mother of four, lost for 40 days in the jungles of Colombia, lived only four days. This happened after a plane crashed in the area on May 1. The information was revealed by her husband this Sunday (11).

Colombian army checks one of four indigenous children found alive – Photo: Prensa President/Colombian Presidency/AFP

“The only thing she [Lesly] it is revealed that his mother was alive for four days. So before she died, maybe their mother told them: “Go away and you will find out who your father is” (…),” Manuel Miller Ranoke told the press next to the military hospital in Bogotá where the children are. The Witoto community is recovering.

Lesley, 13, Soleini, 9, Thien Noriel, 5, and Christine, 1, were found alive on Friday (9) in the middle of the Amazon rainforest in southern Colombia, 5km from the crash site in which three adults died.

Between 15 and 16 May, a military team in the department of Caqueta found a dead pilot in the cockpit of an aircraft stuck between trees, the front of which had been destroyed.

Magdalena Mukutui, the children’s mother, and an indigenous leader also died, although the military did not specify where their bodies were.

More than 100 soldiers and indigenous people of the region, supported by sniffer dogs, followed the children’s trail, traversing 2,656 kilometers through the jungle.

The search was difficult due to the dense vegetation in the area, the presence of jaguars and snakes, and constant rain, which prevented possible distress calls from being heard.

Leslie, who has a “belligerent” personality and is very “smart”, has been protective of her younger siblings, her grandparents told AFP.

Threats

The Colombian Amazon is a vast territory, difficult to access by rivers and without roads, whose inhabitants usually travel by private flights.

In addition to hostile vegetation and wildlife, there are also rebels who violated the peace agreement between the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the government in 2016.

The minors boarded a plane with their mother on May 1 to escape FARC dissidents who are recruiting and terrorizing people in the region. According to press reports, the father had already run away and was waiting to be reunited with his family.

The widower who participated in the searches said he feared for the children’s lives. “This is what scares me the most because I know that these unscrupulous people can start to pressure me using my children, and that I will never allow it as long as I live,” he added.

News of the missing children has traveled around the world, with videos and photos from the army showing day-to-day operations in which makeshift hideouts have been found with twigs, scissors, hair ties, shoes, clothing, a baby bottle, bitten fruit, and footprints.

Health

According to the first medical reports, although the brothers are weakened, nothing threatens them. They receive treatment with light food, psychological help and traditional indigenous care.

“They are very emaciated, they have bruises, scratches. […] They left with jungle diseases […] But they are fine, in good hands,” the children’s grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, told the press this Sunday.

In the photos published by the local media, they appear to be very thin and the eldest has a wound on her forehead.

The indigenous people performed traditional rituals and used their knowledge of the forest to finally find the children. According to the government, they were the first to spot them in the middle of the vegetation.

“We have a lot of faith in the jungle, which is our mother. That is why I have always believed and said that the jungle and nature never betrayed me,” Ranok said.

Although the exciting rescue operation is over, the army soldiers continue to search for Wilson, the sniffer dog who was instrumental in finding clues to the children in the jungle but is now missing.