Carlos Alberto Hernandez was 32 when he disappeared in November 1997
A mother continues to hold out hope that her son who disappeared as he tried to negotiate with car thieves in Colombia 21 years ago will come home.
Every day since Carlos Alberto Hernandez disappeared in 1997, Lilia Hernandez calls into a local radio show to deliver messages in the hope of finding her first born son.
Every time she goes on the air, she starts off by saying: ‘Hello, my beautiful heart. Good morning. How did you wake up?’
She then goes on to provide her son with an update on how his two children and nephew are doing during the two minute slot the radio station gives over to her. She concludes with ‘your entire family is waiting for you, I love you immensely’.
Carlos Alberto was 32 when he disappeared on November 24, 1997. His family believe he was kidnapped by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) but have never had any concrete proof to present a formal accusation.
According to a BBC interview, he had left the family home to reclaim his wife’s car which had been stolen in Bogota. The alleged thieves had asked for $220,000 pesos ($74).
His mother told El Tiempo, that it was just a trick, advising him he was better off just forgetting about the vehicle.
The car was later found in Bogota, hours away from family’s hometown of Villavicencio.
Lilia Hernandez does not miss a beat and is up every morning at dawn to call a local radio station that provides free on-air time with the only hope that her son hears the message
In the days followed his disappearance, a call from his cellphone was made to his wife, with whom he briefly spoke before being cut off.
Lilia Hernandez is seen above speaking on the radio station
There were also two additional calls made from the phone – one to the city of Meta, where there was a strong guerrilla presence.
The other call was made from the family’s hometown of Villavicencio to the Bogota home of a man who had been liberated by the guerrilla group on the same day Carlos went missing.
According to Colombia’s National Center of Historical Memory, there have been 80,569 cases of disappearance and 37,239 kidnappings over the last six decades.
Between 1958 and 2018, there have been an average of 1,343 cases per year.
The area where Carlos was last seen was known as a favorite target spot of the FARC guerrilla group, who in the country’s volatile history have been second to the country’s paramilitary groups when it came to disappearance and abduction cases.
Carlos had completed college and qualified as a doctor and was captain of the local police department when he disappeared.