QUITO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The bodies of a young couple kidnapped and killed along the Ecuador-Colombia border, arrived here on Friday, said Ecuadorian Justice Minister Rosana Alvarado.
The bodies of Katty Velasco, 20, and Oscar Villacis, 24, were flown from the southwest Colombian city of Pasto, in an Ecuadorian Air Force airplane, to Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport, said Alvarado.
"A flight that brings the sad return of the bodies of two compatriots, Oscar and Katty. From the national government, we cannot but express our deep solidarity with the families," said the minister at a press conference.
Alvarado, who received the coffins of the victims along with their families, rejected and condemned the murder of the couple, who will be laid to rest in their home town in the tropical province of Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas.
On July 3, Colombian authorities informed the government of Ecuador over the discovery of two bodies in Tumaco, Colombia, which after a series of tests were confirmed to be those of the couple kidnapped in April.
Carlos Valdes, the director of Legal Medicine of Colombia, confirmed their identity and said that the couple died due to severe blood loss caused by multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest, delivered by a sharp weapon.
The killings have been attributed to the "Oliver Sinisterra Front", a dissident group that split from the now disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
This is the second time in less than a month that the group has been connected with murder, after the bodies of the two journalists and a driver of the Ecuadorian newspaper "El Comercio" were discovered on June 21.
The couple were kidnapped close to the town of San Lorenzo, in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas on the northwest border with Colombia.
On April 17, the Ecuadorian government confirmed the kidnapping and identity of the couple after a video sent by their captors proving that they were alive was made public.
The justice minster announced that the government would help the families of the victims so that "they do not feel alone".
Ecuador and Colombia are offering a reward of 230,000 U.S. dollars for the capture of "Oliver Sinisterra Front" leader, Walter "Guacho" Artizala.
The FARC signed a peace deal with the government in 2016 and has since renounced violence and transformed into a political party. But a small number of its members have refused to give up their activities.
