American Airlines flight attendant from Dallas reported missing in Colombia

Fernando Gutierrez was last seen on Sunday, March 22, in Medellín, Colombia.

An American Airlines flight attendant has been reported missing in Colombia after he disappeared during a crew layover in Medellín.

Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, who is based out of Dallas-Fort Worth, arrived in the South American country on Saturday night on a flight from Miami, according to local reports.

The 32-year-old and his colleagues had an overnight layover in Medellín and were scheduled to return to the United States on a flight to Miami Sunday morning, Telemedellín, a local public television channel, reported.

The events surrounding his disappearance remain unclear. Local authorities in Medellin issued a missing person's alert saying Molina was last seen early Sunday in the La America neighborhood, a mostly residential area.

Sharom Gil, a close friend of Fernando's who spoke to Telemedellín, said his coworker was found disoriented and was taken to a medical center, but that Fernando's location was unknown.

Gil said they filed missing persons reports in both Dallas and Medellín and that the airline notified the U.S. embassy in Colombia of his disappearance.

In a statement to NBC 5, American Airlines said: "We are actively engaged with local law enforcement officials in their investigation and doing all we can to support our team member's family during this time."

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union representing American Airlines flight attendants, told NBC 5 it was "actively supporting all efforts to help locate our missing colleague in Colombia."

Arturo Fontes is a retired FBI agent with nearly 30 years of experience. Fontes later founded his own company and spent extensive time in South America working missing persons cases, which he says often end with the person found dazed, but alive.

“These cases are normal. In this case, he has not shown up and that’s what’s giving some red flags,” said Fontes.

Fontes said the sense of urgency on the part of officials in Colombia is critical.

“What they’re going to do normally is go to the last location he’s been to, whether it’s a bar or a restaurant,” he said. “And then they’re going to track maybe the cameras and try to locate where the last place he went. If he had a cellphone, the first thing they will look at is the telephone to see what his last location was.”