Colombia's Santos: 'Bodies May Be Murdered El Comercio Staff'

Colombia's outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos said late Thursday that the bodies of the three Ecuadorean newspaper staff allegedly murdered by the Oliver Sinisterra Front earlier this year may have finally been found.

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Posting on his personal Twitter account, Santos wrote: "I am informed that we found some bodies that might correspond to the three journalists kidnapped and killed by alias 'Guacho.'

"We're verifying their identity. I repeat my condolences to their families and repudiate the killers for committing such a heinous crime."

The Oliver Sinisterra Front is an armed group operating along the Colombia-Ecuador border and headed by Walter Patricio Artizala Vernaza, also known as 'El Guacho.'

In March, members of the group kidnapped three staff from Ecuador's El Comercio newspaper and later executed them when the Ecuadorean government failed to meet their demands.

Attempts by the Red Cross to recover the bodies of journalist Javier Ortega, photographer Paul Rivas and driver Efrain Segarra in April ultimately failed.

The bodies were found in the rural area of Tumaco, in a state of advanced decomposition, El Tiempo reports. Forensice teams are working to identify the remains.

Several members of the Oliver Sinisterra Front have been arrested or killed by Colombian authorities, but 'El Guacho' remains at large.