The British Consul and his Colombian mistress kidnapped a 15-armed man in Ecuador, which was their horrific misery.
Colin Armstrong, 79, kidnapped his weekend home from his weekend home on December 30, 2023 with his partner Katherine Paola Santos.
Police initially questioned why Santos was released early and explored whether she was part of the program. She strongly denied any involvement and investigators found no evidence related to the crime. “People are cruel. I’m sad to joke and lie at such a bad time.”
Armstrong, a businessman from North Yorkshire, was released after his former British consul in Guayaquil, who agreed to pay $2 million in his release. Speaking of the ordeal, he said: “People warned me not to go the same job or ranch route and use armored vehicles in escorts. But I always laughed at the threat of kidnapping. Then, it happened.”
He described the gunman suddenly rushing in, wrist-bound, exposed, wrapped only on bed sheets, and tied to his car with his girlfriend, and he was taken away from his 4,000-acre cattle ranch. They were driven for several hours to a remote farmhouse where the hostages were taken.
Ms. Santos volunteered to accompany him. Armstrong met Santos in 2013 and fell in love, saying their affair caused friction with his 50-year-old Ecuadorian wife Cecilia. “I still love my wife,” he said, adding that he never considered a divorce.
During the kidnapping, Armstrong said the gang didn’t look interested in Santos, but she insisted on being with him, telling them: “He is an old man. I need to take care of him or he will die.”
The two kept them in a small room for four days, with mattresses on the floor and sealed furniture on windows. Armstrong is concerned that kidnappers may check their bodies for implanted tracking devices (a growing strategy in the Ecuadorian wave of crime) and that if they find anything, they may hurt them.
At one point, the gang tied a coat to Santos, who claimed to have been manipulated by explosives. Her mission was to hand over the phone to Armstrong’s son Nick, who took over the British consul. Santos threatened the police and she carried out her mission. Police explosion experts later determined that the vest was fake.
Meanwhile, Armstrong was still captured. His kidnapper initially asked for $5 million. Nick pretended to agree and reminded the British Embassy in Quito. The pressure from Ecuadorian authorities has continued to increase, with several gang members arrested in Guayaguir. Gang leaders threaten to kill Armstrong’s revenge.
Hostage negotiators work carefully to reduce the need for ransom. Ultimately, the kidnapper agreed to Armstrong’s release in exchange for a promise of paying $500,000 a week per month.
Armstrong was released by the roadside near a brothel and picked up by police. In addition to some small fatigue, he was declared healthy. A photo posted by the police showed him standing between two policemen wearing a baseball cap.
A few days before Christmas, he reunited with Cecilia and his two daughters to share a painful story on a bottle of wine.
Police said the motive behind the kidnapping was purely financial. Later, they seized a range of weapons from the gang, including grenades, guns, ammunition, detonators and a large amount of controlled substances.
Despite all that, Armstrong and Santos remained together, choosing to continue their relationship after surviving the ordeal of nearly losing their lives.
