Family mourns American Airlines flight attendant found dead in Colombia
An American Airlines flight attendant from Texas who was found dead after he went missing during a layover in Colombia last weekend is remembered by his family as a “beautiful soul.”
Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, 32, will be remembered as a “ball of sunshine” and a “docile, charismatic, goofy man who always provided a helping hand,” Gutierrez Molina’s brother and the organizer of a GoFundMe, Kelvin Gutierrez wrote.
Gutierrez Molina, who lived in Dallas, arrived in Colombia on Saturday night, March 21, on a flight from Miami. He was reported missing after he disappeared during a routine layover in Medellín.
Gutierrez Molina and his colleagues were scheduled to return to the U.S. on a flight to Miami on Sunday , according to local public television channel Telemedellín.
Friends and co-workers filed missing person reports with local authorities. Gutierrez Molina went missing shortly after sharing his location at an Airbnb, KDFW-TV reported.
Sharom Gil, one of Gutierrez Molina’s friends, told Telemedellín that the missing man and another colleague left the hotel to go out on the town. Gutierrez Molina and the co-worker met two guys at a club and went to party at another place after the club closed, Gil said.
Gutierrez Molina’s body was found between Jericó and Puente Iglesias, the mayor of Medellín, Colombia, said in a social media post on Friday, March 27.
Gutierrez Molina came to the United States from El Salvador to pursue a career in aviation, his brother wrote in the GoFundMe organized to bring him back from Colombia to “the place he called home,” Texas.
“His mother describes him as a person with a beautiful soul that was quickly recognized by anyone,” the post read.
Gutierrez Molina’s partner, Ernesto Carranza “will always remember and cherish the beautiful person he was. He was the sunshine in his life and will forever remember and cherish him,” Kelvin Gutierrez wrote.
“We love Fernando forever in our hearts. He is in heaven smiling down and knowing he left a beautiful family that loves him and will always have him in our active dreams and hearts,” the brother wrote.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 9:29 PM.