Charred bodies found near military base in Ecuador are four boys who went missing while playing soccer, officials say

Genetic tests on burned bodies found near a military base in Ecuador confirm they are those of four boys abducted by soldiers three weeks ago, officials said Tuesday.

The disappearance of a boy between the ages of 11 and 15 sparked protests in that South American country, which is in the midst of an armed conflict between drug gangs and security forces.

Saul Arboleda, Steven Medina and brothers Josue and Ismael Arroyo were playing soccer in the western city of Guayaquil on December 8 when they disappeared.

“The results of genetic forensic tests confirm that the four bodies found in Taura correspond to three teenagers and a boy who disappeared after a military operation on December 8,” Ecuador’s prosecutor’s office wrote on social media.

An unconfirmed video released by Ecuador’s Congress appears to show a group of soldiers putting one of the minors in a vehicle and beating him, while the other is seen face down.

Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said that the soldiers, who were on patrol, were responding to a request for help due to a robbery.

The military says the children were released the same night they were taken into custody and gangs are to blame for their disappearance, the Associated Press reported.

The incident sparked widespread outrage in Ecuador, where kidnappings, extortion and murder are now commonplace.

The father of one of the boys said his family received a call on the night of their disappearance during which Ismael was called to the phone. The boy said that the soldiers chased them, took them away and beat them.

Later, the relatives received two locations via WhatsApp, one of them in the town of Taura, where the military air base is located, and the other near the shrimp farm.

An anonymous caller told the family that criminals had taken the boys.

On December 24, the charred remains of four bodies were found near the Taura base, sparking fears that they were the missing boys, although officials said at the time that DNA tests were needed.

A statement from prosecutors on Tuesday confirmed that the bodies were teenagers.

At the beginning of last week, the authorities raided the Taura base and confiscated the phones of 16 soldiers suspected of being involved in the disappearance, as well as the vehicles used to transport minors.

On Tuesday, the soldiers — who were in military custody — were ordered to be detained by the criminal court.

They are being investigated for the enforced disappearance of the boy, for which a sentence of up to 26 years in prison is foreseen if they are convicted.

The soldiers claim that they let the boys into the area after a short stay and that all four were alive and in good condition at the time.

The Ministry of Defense said in a statement on behalf of the government that it “deeply regrets” that the bodies of the missing teenagers have been confirmed.

“We reaffirm our commitment to the truth, so this case is handled with complete transparency until we find those responsible for this murder,” it added.

Dozens of relatives, neighbors and activists waving placards organized a protest in front of the court demanding that the soldiers be imprisoned.

Last January, President Daniel Noboa declared a state of “internal armed conflict” after a brutal wave of violence, caused by the escape from prison of a powerful crime boss.

The move came after armed men entered and opened fire in the TV studio, bandits also threatened random executions of civilians and security forces. Later, the prosecutor who investigated the attack came shot.