Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Astrid Suárez at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.
Families in Colombia continue searching for hundreds of children who went missing during the devastating 1985 Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption that killed approximately 25,000 people and destroyed the town of Armero, with many children separated from their families in the chaos and given up for adoption.
Some key facts:
• The Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted on Nov. 13, 1985, killing approximately 25,000 people in what became Colombia’s deadliest natural disaster in recent history.
• Hundreds of children were separated from their families during the chaos following the eruption, and their whereabouts remain unknown 40 years later.
• The Armando Armero Foundation has documented 580 missing children, with 71 reportedly adopted, and only four have been found alive so far.
• Martha Lucía López’s 5-year-old son Sergio Melendro disappeared during the tragedy and was reportedly adopted by a family, possibly in New Orleans.
• The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, or ICBF, received at least 170 children from Armero after the disaster, according to available records.
• The ICBF’s “red book,” which contains records of some children from Armero, was declassified in October but is not a complete record of all missing children.
• Some children were taken by the ICBF, others were sent to nearby villages, and some civilians took children home to care for them in the aftermath.
• Families continue their search four decades later, collecting DNA samples and hoping adopted children will learn their true origins and reconnect.
READ MORE: Parents search for children missing since a volcanic eruption in Colombia 40 years ago
This article is written with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence based solely on Washington Times original reporting and wire services. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Ann Wog, Managing Editor for Digital, at awog@washingtontimes.com
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