(OSV News) – For almost three weeks, Colombian authorities have been searching for Fr. Carlos Jaimes Guerrero, a 30-year-old Augustinian friar who went missing on June 17, and they still have not identified potential reasons for his disappearance.
Concerns over his fate grew as a gruesome discovery of the bodies of eight Christian missionaries who disappeared without a trace in April sent shockwaves through the country.
The bodies belonged to evangelical and Protestant missionaries.
On July 1, the Attorney General's Office confirmed that the bodies of eight religious leaders and community leaders who had disappeared in April were found in a mass grave.
The Evangelical Confederation of Colombia asked for prayers and "consolation for these families" in a statement following the announcement. "We ask for prayers for peace and we raise a firm voice of cry and demand that the authorities ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished."
The group went missing in the city of Calamar, Guaviare Department, after being invited to a meeting by members of a guerrilla organization. When they didn't come back, their relatives questioned the guerrillas, who are dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which signed a peace agreement with the government in 2017.
According to the authorities, the organization wanted to avoid the creation of a local cell by another guerrilla group. The victims were apparently interrogated by them about the subject.
Hector Lizarazo, adjunct secretary of the Conference of Religious of Colombia, said that the conflicts between armed groups in the country many times end up impacting civilians.
"Those who have a prophetic presence are especially targeted," he told OSV News, pointing especially to social leaders and religious organizations, adding that "their commitment and testimony at times disturb the agents of violence."
Christians are often targeted in Columbia because they oppose the country's drug cartels and guerrilla groups, according to Open Doors' 2025 World Watch Report of the 50 countries where it is the most difficult to be a Christian.
Fr. Jaimes was seen for the last time as he was leaving Casacoima farm, a historical place where he promoted activities for the youth and senior citizens near the city of Viotá – 55 miles southwest of Bogotá, Colombia's capital city.
Local Augustinian friars told the police that Father Jaimes had scheduled a meeting not far from the farm. He left the property in the morning and drove for an estimated half an hour.
On the same day, his truck was found on a local road with the engine still on and the doors open. There were no signs of violence in the vehicle and no clues that could lead to his whereabouts. Since then, he hasn't answered any messages.
The police have been collaborating with a number of governmental bodies – including the national intelligence agency – to find clues about the Augustinian friar's disappearance.
The air force conducted helicopter flights over the area. The Viotá city government is offering a reward for information that would lead the police to find the priest. The Augustinians in Colombia asked for prayers and gave assurances of their cooperation with authorities.
Fr. Jaimes' mother and one of his sisters recorded desperate videos that went viral on Colombian social media begging his possible kidnappers to release him.
"He is simply a servant of God, a priest, a person appreciated by his family and his community," said Erika Lucia Guerrero, his older sister, on a video.
During the last week of June, a nocturnal march was promoted in Viotá, with hundreds of residents carrying candles and banners with Fr. Jaimes' pictures June 26. An online novena, concluded on June 30, was also carried out by an Augustinian-run radio station.
Theologian Heyner Hernández Díaz emphasized that guerrilla groups and drug cartels have been disputing territories in many areas of Colombia, with a particularly serious crisis in Catatumbo, in the northern part of the country.
"Disappearances have always been part of the grave violences carried out by armed groups here, including those of religious people," he told OSV News.
It's still early to know if Fr. Jaimes' disappearance is linked to armed groups, he said, but they undoubtedly have fomented "a tremendous depreciation of human life, along with drug cartels."
