A university student who was kidnapped by a Colombian guerrilla group has been confirmed dead four months after her abduction.
Angie Pahola Tovar was in the final semester of her Administrative Engineering degree when she was killed in the horrifying attack.
The 26-year-old student had returned to her rural hometown for the summer holidays when her vehicle was ambushed by suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as reported by Need To Know.
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Angie was travelling with Adrián Marcillo, 30, when the pair were dragged from their car at a roadblock set up by armed men on 27 August.
The pair were stopped on the road connecting the municipalities of Popayán and Piendamó, south of Cali, Colombia.
Angie had been on her way back to Medellín ahead of her final year at the National University of Colombia, after spending the summer in her hometown of Guachucal, in the Nariño Department.
Both victims were forced into another vehicle – and tragically, both lost their lives.
Their bodies were later found burned inside a van.
Authorities were only able to identify the remains last Wednesday (22 Oct).
A spokesperson for the university said: “With profound sorrow, the National University of Colombia, Medellín Campus, mourns the loss of Angie Pahola Tovar Calpa.
“Her absence leaves a huge void and fills the entire university community with grief.”
Vice rector Mary Luz Alzate Zuluaga added: “Angie Pahola’s passing reminds us of the need to build a country where young people can live without fear.
“We reaffirm our conviction that education and dialogue are the paths to healing the wounds of conflict.”
Her close friend Yuliana Valencia remembered her as “a very cheerful, sweet person, always serving others”.
She added: “She always had a smile and words of encouragement for everyone.
“She was a very studious person and very loving to her parents.”
The university has since called on authorities to investigate her death and bring those responsible to justice.
FARC has claimed Angie was killed by soldiers from the National Army of Colombia during a shootout three days after her kidnapping.
Her death has renewed fears over escalating violence in the regions of Cauca and Nariño, where a surge in kidnappings and murders by FARC dissidents has been reported in recent months.
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Columbia has one of the biggest XY and corruption problems worldwide. They even call themselves guerillas lol. The best is to financial support the women and girls and ban human trafficking/prostitution there. If the women build strong solidarity groups they could reduce XY and stop such aggresions. I hope they do.