Ecuador orders detention of 16 air force members over disappearance of 4 children

A judge in Ecuador has ordered the detention of 16 air force members accused of involvement in the disappearance of four children, whose charred remains were discovered weeks after they were seen being forced into a military patrol car against their will.

A judge in Ecuador has ordered the detention of 16 air force members accused of involvement in the disappearance of four children, whose charred remains were discovered weeks after they were seen being forced into a military patrol car against their will. The case has shocked the nation and sparked protests against the military, which has been spearheading President Daniel Noboa’s crackdown on violent criminal groups. On Tuesday, moments after a judge in Guayaquil ordered the detentions, prosecutors announced that forensic tests showed four charred corpses found last week belonged to the children. The bodies were found near to where the children were last seen. The children, Saúl Arboleda, Steven Medina, and brothers Josué and Ismael Arroyo, were reported missing on December 8 after playing soccer and being detained by soldiers in Guayas province. Video released last week by the National Assembly showed they had been coerced into getting into a patrol car against their will. The defense ministry acknowledged that the children, aged from 11 to 15, had been detained but insisted they were later released. It also claimed that the children had been involved in a robbery, but the Prosecutor’s Office said there was no evidence to support that.