26 paid him well and because he wanted to earn extra money to buy a house for his family. The alleged victim, Víctor Ayala, and the other tradesmen decided to travel to Medellín using the route from Cúcuta to Ocaña, from Ocaña they would go down to Aguachica and from Aguachica they would travel to Barranca, and from there they would take a “short cut” to reach the urban areas around Medellín. The region the tradesmen crossed is a “danger zone” where “paramilitary personnel,” the guerrilla, and the Army operate. Víctor Ayala telephoned the witness from Campo Capote and told her that all was well, but the witness assumes he said this so as not to worry her. This was the last telephone call the alleged victim made to his next of kin. After a certain length of time, the witness began to be very concerned because Victor did not return, so she telephoned the hotel in Medellín, but no one could give her information about her husband. The witness's brother, Juan Montero, was told to come and collect Víctor Ayala, “because he was being eaten by raptors,” but, when that occurred, Juan did not tell the witness so as not to increase her anxiety. When Victor Ayala had disappeared for fifteen days, and observing the witness's anguish, Juan Montero accompanied her to search for Víctor Ayala. Juan was a very good brother to the witness. The witness and Juan Montero went to the Puerto Boyacá Police Inspectorate to file a report on the “disappearance” of Victor Ayala and the vehicle. At the Police Inspectorate, they were told to leave the information and that “an investigation was being conducted.” The witness and Juan Montero also went to file a report on the disappearance of Victor Ayala at the Bárbula Battalion headquarters, located at the start of the descent towards the “short cut.” The “short cut” consisted of stony paths, impossible to cross in a car. At the Bárbula Battalion headquarters, they were attended by a lieutenant. Juan Montero went by motorcycle, with his friend Ferney, to try and find the witness's husband. The witness did not go with them, because there was no room on the motorcycle, so she returned to the hotel. The following day, Juan Montero telephoned the witness to tell her that they were “stranded.” That was the last time she spoke to her brother, Juan. When several days had passed, without news of her husband or her brother, the witness decided to go and look for them. She got into a truck that was descending the “short cut” and reached a store, where she asked a man for help, and told him about the disappearance of the tradesmen and her brother. The man told the witness that there were guerrilla, “paramilitary” and Army personnel in the region and that, if she continued investigating, they would retain her as a “cook.” The man said that she should leave the place, because something bad had happened to her next of kin who had disappeared, that she should save her own life and fight for her children. By coincidence, a jeep passed by and the man saw that the witness was given a lift and suggested to her that she should not talk to anyone in the region. When the witness returned to the hotel, she found that someone had left her a ticket and money to return home. She did not know who had left the ticket and money, but she took them because she had no money to return home.