By JAMES REINL, SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 12:24 EST, 8 December 2024 | Updated: 12:24 EST, 8 December 2024
A new Netflix documentary casts a sinister light on the miraculous tale of four indigenous kids who made international headlines last year by surviving a plane crash and then 40 days in the Amazon jungle.
People around the world rejoiced when the siblings from Colombia's indigenous Huitoto tribe were found, emaciated but fending for themselves, after their mom and others were killed when their plane went down.
The new show The Lost Children takes viewers back to the arduous rescue missions that ultimately saved the children, while revealing the troubled nature of their lives both before and after the disaster.
It shows how the children have been in government care since the rescue, amid a bitter custody battle between the family of mom Magdalena Mucutuy, and the dad of two of the siblings, Manuel Ranoque.
It also reveals that Ranoque has been in prison, awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing one of his stepdaughters before the ill-fated flight, since his arrest in August 2023 – allegations he denies.
Worse still, the mom's relatives even say the children spent such a long time in the jungle because they were hiding from rescue teams, fearful of being returned to their 'abusive' father.
The siblings were 13, 9, 4 and 11 months old when the single-engine plane they were traveling in nosedived into the jungle canopy on 1 May 2023, killing their mom and the other two adults on board.
The group was traveling from the small village of Araracuara, deep in the Colombian Amazon, to the town of San Jose del Guaviare.
Manuel Ranoqueis in prison awaiting trial as he prepares to fight charges that he sexually abused one of his stepchildren
The children are currently in the care of Colombian authorities amid the prosecution of Manuel Ranoque for sexual abuse
Magdalena died in the plane crash along with the pilot and an Indigenous leader
The siblings survived the crash and lived off fruits and seeds from the rainforest before they were found on June 9 by a team of special forces soldiers and indigenous volunteers.
The rescuers had been combing the rough terrain around the plane crash for three weeks and used sniffer dogs and helicopters to locate the children, as footage of their mission was televised around the world.
In the documentary, the eldest child, Lesly, describes how Magdalena survived the crash but died from her injuries soon after, and how she suffered a painful leg injury but knew she 'had to keep going.'
She says she barely slept and at one point had to kill a snake to protect her younger siblings.
She knew which jungle fruits were safe to eat, and made a makeshift rod to catch fish, which the kids ate raw, even though it 'tasted horrible,' Lesly says.
Still, they struggled to get enough nutrition, and the two youngest siblings were close to death when they were finally rescued.
The 1 hour 36 minute show features footage of Ranoque and others cutting through jungle to search the area around the plane, but interviews with the mom's relatives cast an unflattering light on the dad.
The kids' aunt Yeritza Mucutuy and their maternal grandmother Fatima Valencia allege that Ranoque 'abused' his partner when they were together.
Ranoque, who led rescue efforts for the children, says he will fight the allegations of sexual abuse at trial
The six-week search for the children ended on June 9, when all four of them were found weak and hungry but alive
The rescue involved Colombian forces and indigenous tribes people who at times worked together, despite decades of mutual mistrust
Valencia says he beat her with a curved stick so hard that he left scars on her neck that she hid with her hair.
'I hate that man so much, because of what happened to my sister,' says the aunt.
Sensationally, they also suggest the kids deliberately hid from the rescue teams because they did not wish to be reunited with Ranoque, 34.
'Lesley wanted to hide, she didn't want to be found because she didn't want to see Manuel,' says Valencia.
'The kids hid from the search because they were scared.'
After the rescue, a custody battle over the siblings broke out pitting Valencia against Ranoque, who was not interviewed in the documentary.
Ranoque is the biological father of the two youngest children, Tien and Cristin.
The Cessna crashed into thick jungle in southern Colombia, killing all three adults on board, but the four children all miraculously survived
Soldiers of the Colombian Air Force and employees of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) give medical attention inside a plane to the surviving children of a Cessna 206 plane crash
The Netflix show features archive footage and dramatic recreations of the jungle rescue mission
Members of Colombia's indigenous groups took part in rescue efforts, using their understanding of the jungle and local customs
A baby's bottle was found in the jungle near the crash site. The youngest child Cristin Mucutuy was just 11 months old at the time of the accident
He also lived with the two older children and their mother for several years before the crash.
Ranoque was imprisoned in August 2023 over accusations that he had sexually abused one of the children when they lived together.
Prosecutors in Colombia formally charged Ranoque in October 2023 with sexually assaulting a minor, an accusation he denies and says he will challenge in an upcoming trial.
The kids are in the care of Colombia's Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF), which on the one-year anniversary of the rescue in June posted a photo of them with their faces blurred.
In a statement, the institute said they were healthy and growing up successfully under state care.
'The Mucutuy siblings today spend their days enjoying life and learning,' said the statement.
'They have been accompanied by a team that specializes in ethnic affairs and works so that they don't lose their customs while they are far from their territory.'
The ICBF did not answer DailyMail.com's request for an update on the kids and the prosecution.
Speaking with DailyMail.com after the rescue, Ranoque admitted that he had cheated on his partner while making a visit to Colombia's capital, Bogota, calling it a 'one-time thing.'
'I am made of flesh and bones and make mistakes,' Ranoque said in an interview in a Bogota hotel.
'Yes I had a woman, but it was never in order to leave Magdalena.'
The documentary was directed by Oscar winner Orlando von Einsiedel and released on November 14.
Einsiedel says he tried to treat a 'painful human tragedy with the deep respect and sensitivity they deserve.'
The show is about 'not only the children's battle to survive in the forest alone, but also the way in which indigenous rescuers and the military were able to overcome their mutual mistrust and fear,' he says.
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