“Struck” colleague of missing American Airlines flight attendant in Colombia: “I want to believe he’s alive”

The search is on for an American Airlines flight attendant whose disappearance in Medellín, Colombia, has left his loved ones searching for answers.

Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, 32, a US citizen and resident of North Texas, He went missing on Saturday evening After spending the night with a flight attendant, according to Ernesto Carranza, Gutierrez Molina’s longtime partner, and Sharom Gil, his best friend.

The two flight attendants visited a bar in Medellin’s El Poblado neighborhood popular with foreign tourists, according to family and friends, as well as Colombian officials.

Carranza told CBS News he was “devastated” by Gutierrez Molina’s disappearance.

“I want to believe that he’s alive, and I want to continue to believe that he’s alive, but every day you wake up and you don’t know anything, and it makes the days go by longer and slower,” Carranza said.

“I miss a part of me … He’s such a joy to be around,” Gil said. “We’ve lost a lot now.”

Carranza and Gil told CBS News that they last contacted Gutierrez Molina on Saturday night, when he told them he was out with a friend.

“I spoke to him on Saturday evening, he just told me that he was on vacation in Colombia and was going out with his friends,” said Gil.

Gutierrez Molina was going to work on a flight back from Medellín to Miami on Sunday, and Carranza said he panicked on Sunday morning when he couldn’t reach him. He then discovered that Gutierrez Molina’s phone seemed to be ringing in two places in Medellín that were not near his hotel.

“Both of these places were not close to where he was supposed to sleep,” Carranza said.

What adds to this mystery, according to Gil, is that the colleague of Gutierrez Molina who went out with him on Saturday said that he does not remember the night.

“It was his female colleague, they both came out,” said Gil. “We don’t want to reveal anything that happened to him, but he was also a victim of whatever Fernando is going through right now. He was upset, but he was able to go back to the hotel where he slept.”

Carranza said Gutierrez Molina’s father, who also lives in Texas, traveled to Colombia to help local authorities search for his son. The progress of the search by Colombian authorities was unclear.

Manuel Villa Mejía, Medellín’s security secretary, said in a statement on Thursday that his “highest priority” is to find Gutierrez Molina “safe and sound.” Mejía said that Gutierrez Molina left with his colleagues “from the center in El Poblado,” and the group was moving to another place.

Since then, his whereabouts are unknown,” said Mejía. “As a result, the missing persons search protocol was immediately activated.”

Mejía said Colombian officials are working with the U.S. Embassy and Gutierrez Molina’s family, including his father.

“We will sit down, work tirelessly and without rest, until we find him – hopefully soon – so he can be reunited with his family,” said Mejía.

In a statement provided to CBS News Texas, American Airlines said it is “cooperating closely with local law enforcement officials in their investigation and we are doing everything we can to support the family of our crew member at this time.”

When reached by CBS News Texas, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia said it was “restricted from speaking about multiple cases due to federal privacy laws.”

The State Department also said in a statement to CBS News Texas that it is “aware” of “reports” of Gutierrez Molina’s disappearance and is “closely monitoring the situation.”

“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of the American people, and the State Department stands ready to provide all diplomatic assistance to Americans in need abroad,” the State Department said.

A spokesperson for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants also told CBS News in a statement that it “supports all efforts to locate the missing crew member.”