Loved ones react to arrests in the alleged gang-related killing of an American Airlines flight attendant in Colombia
Sharom Gill and Ernesto Carranza say the past and future have collapsed into a painful present as they mourn the loss of Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina – and express relief that authorities have arrested his alleged killers.
"I feel like life is like a party, and the party just got dim because he's gone," Gill said. "And I know for sure me and Ernesto share the same opinion of – we want to celebrate him. And we always talk like he's still here. We never say past tense: 'he was or he did'. He is and he will, and he does."
Molina, 32, was last seen alive on March 21. Authorities said the American Airlines flight attendant was on a layover in Medellín, Colombia, and went out with a coworker and disappeared. Six days later, he was found dead.
"So detectives have given their theory that they believe he was drugged and then, I don't know how you say that word, but pretty much choked and killed through the neck," Carranza said.
Gill and Carranza – his friend and his partner of 10 years – worked urgently to draw attention to his disappearance before learning the tragic news. Carranza, 33, said he received updates from American Airlines and a detective as the case progressed. After nearly five months, arrests were made.
Medellín police arrested two men and a woman. Investigators said they were part of the "Los Goteros" gang – translated as "the droppers" – a criminal group that authorities say uses dating apps to lure tourists, spike drinks, rob victims, and, in Molina's case, commit murder.
"It makes it seem like he preplanned all of this. So why would he pre-plan to meet up with someone and then end up dead?" Carranza said.
Carranza, who works for a different airline, said he, Gill, and Molina's mother all spoke with him the night he vanished. He believes investigators are relying on stereotypes about gay men traveling to Colombia.
Gill agrees. She said images released by authorities show Molina alone at a club, drinking a beer, while suspects appear to be watching him.
"And I think they also, with the images that they released of him at the club, which was hard to see because those are essentially his last moments," Gill said. "You can see him by himself having a drink, having a beer, and the suspects staring him down. So what it looks like is he was targeted at the club."
CBS News Texas has not independently obtained arrest documents from Colombia, Peru or the nightclub Gill referenced.
In the meantime, Gill and Carranza said they are grateful to Homeland Security, Colombian authorities, American Airlines, and members of the airline industry who reached out to them about Molina, whom they described as bubbly and authentic.
Gill said she saw Molina 10 days before he died. Carranza said he had seen him three to four days earlier. They had recently vacationed with another friend. Gill said the plans Molina had made are now gone. Carranza said a decade-long relationship ended in an international tragedy.
"I'm not saying I wish he died at home or et cetera, but the way he died, I don't wish it on anyone because it's like who's going to wish for the person you love to get killed and never come back? It's hard. I mean, it's going to take time," he said.
