A soldier held hostage for more than 12 years was freed by Colombian rebels Tuesday, the International Red Cross said.
The soldier’s father waited on an airport tarmac with his wife and four daughters: “My heart is going a thousand an hour.” The family had been anxiously awaiting Moncayo’s release since the FARC first announced last April that he planned to set him free.
Sgt. Pablo Emilio Moncayo was one of the longest-held hostages of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. He was 19 when taken captive during a rebel attack on an army outpost in the mountains Dec. 21, 1997.
(READ the AP story at NPR.org)
Photo courtesy of Sun Star