Dutch woman, 41, missing for a week found dead in Colombia

Dutch tourist Marlies Minke Genz, 41, from Schagen in Noord-Holland, was found dead Sunday in a small rural lake in the Palestina rural area near Salento, Colombia, after disappearing during a planned walk to a coffee tour on Monday, May 25, according to Colombian authorities and reporting from Dutch media.

Genz had been staying at the Coffee Tree Boutique Hostel in Salento, a town in Colombia’s coffee region. She was last seen at 1:00 p.m. on May 25, when she left the hostel for a walk of about one hour toward Finca El Ocaso, where she was scheduled to attend a coffee tour at 2:00 p.m. She never arrived.

Her phone became unreachable shortly afterward. According to reporting from Colombian and Dutch sources, she was described as well-organized and reliable, which made her disappearance immediately concerning to friends, family, and hostel staff.

By Wednesday, May 27, concern increased when she failed to check out of the hostel as planned. She was expected to depart for a two-night horseback tour scheduled to end on Friday. There was no confirmed record of where that tour had been booked, and it remained unclear whether she had ever begun it.

Search efforts began after she was reported missing and expanded as days passed without contact, according to the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office and local authorities in Quindío.

On Sunday morning, May 31, emergency responders and police found a body in a small lake in the rural Palestina area near Salento. Authorities later confirmed it was Genz.

Authorities have not determined whether Genz died as a result of an accident in the mountainous terrain while walking toward the coffee farm or if something else might have happened. An official investigation is underway, and forensic investigators continue trying to piece the picture together.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague said that consular assistance was being provided and that a Dutch diplomat was on-site and in contact with Colombian authorities.

The municipality of Salento issued a statement expressing condolences to her family and thanked emergency services for their work during the search.

Friends in Schagen expressed shock and grief on social media. One friend wrote that it was hard to believe what had happened and called her a "dear neighbor," adding condolences. Another resident also wrote, 'Rest in peace, dear Marlies.’