Investigators are working to identify a body found in the Medellín, Colombia, area on Friday amid the ongoing search for a missing American Airlines flight attendant based out of Dallas. Officials believe the body is connected to the missing persons case involving 32-year-old Eric Fernando Gutie rrez Molina, who disappeared while out with friends during a layover last weekend. The body was found in a rural area between the Jericó and Puente Iglesias municipalities and was taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute in Medellín for identification, according to a statement from Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez on Friday. The mayor said he had reached out to Gutierrez Molina’s father and informed the U.S. ambassador to Colombia and the consul general. “There is a very high probability that this body belongs to this individual,” the mayor said in Spanish. “We extend our deepest condolences and solidarity to his family and friends.” In a press conference on Thursday, Manuel Villa Mejía, secretary of security of Medellín, said investigators identified the people last seen with Gutierrez Molina, and that they had a history of committing theft using scopolamine, an incapacitating drug known as “devil’s breath” with a history of being used in assaults in the country. Gutierrez Molina was believed to have gone out with two coworkers, a man and a woman, on Saturday night during their layover. At some point during the night, he left with the woman and other unknown people for another establishment and was not seen again. The female coworker was later found at their hotel, reportedly somewhat disoriented. Investigators in Colombia have not released the names of the people who are believed to have been with Gutierrez Molina or said whether they have been taken into custody and questioned, but they have identified vehicles and phones used by the suspects. What is scopolamine? According to the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, scopolamine has been used for years to carry out robberies of people targeted while visiting bars and nightclubs in Medellín, Cartagena, and Bogotá. The drug is a sedative that often leaves the victim disoriented, with no memory and sedated, “so they are easily robbed.” The embassy said that if the drug is ingested or exposed, it can leave a victim unconscious for 24 hours or more and that overdoses can cause respiratory failure and death. Dr. Jairo Noreña said scopolamine is an extract from a plant found in the country, and that the plant’s seeds can be crushed into an odorless, tasteless powder that can be mixed into drinks. Authorities in Colombia said the drug is common enough that some bars and clubs warn customers with signs that urge them to stay alert and report anything suspicious. ...read more read less