Colin Armstrong’s daughter makes emotional plea for millionaire dad, 78, snatched in Ecuador…as son flies out for hunt
THE daughter of missing British millionaire Colin Armstrong abducted by mobsters in Ecuador has made a desperate plea for him to be released.
Colin Armstrong, 78, is understood to have been snatched in the early hours of Saturday from his estate in Baba, Ecuador by gangsters disguised as police.
His son, Nick Armstrong, has now flown out to track down his father who has not been seen or heard from since his kidnapping.
Colin’s daughter Diana Armstrong-Bruns, said: “This is a critical time, we’ve been told not to say anything to anyone.
“We just want my father back,” the California-based estate agent told the Mail.
When asked about her brother’s dash to Ecuador, she replied: “I really can’t say anything else, we’ve been told not to speak to anyone.”
Police are investigating the disappearance of Armstrong who heads the British Consulate in Ecuador’s second largest city of Guayaqui, which suffers from spiralling gang violence.
Armstrong’s glam younger lover, Katherine Paola Santos, is now reportedly being quizzed by cops after being released by the kidnappers.
The pair were snatched from Rancho Rodeo Grande allegedly by 15 armed gangsters disguised by police and whisked off in a black BMW, which was later found abandoned by the roadside.
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His son, Nick, is believed to have an extensive network of contacts inside Ecuador and will try and use them to locate and secure the release of his ageing father.
Kidnapping for ransom has become increasingly common in Ecuador amid rising crime largely attributed to drug trafficking gangs.
A video said to be circulating on social media shows the aftermath of the raid with signs of a forced entry, along with traces of blood and ransacked rooms.
A woman filming inside takes close-up shots of broken plates on the floor and a man who appeared to be holding a bandage to his head.
She then walks into one of the bedrooms where blood covers the bed before saying: “This is where they hit him. My God what is this.”
The Foreign Office said they were in contact with authorities in the South American nation following the disappearance of a British man.
They did not confirm his identity or the location of the potential crime.
A spokesman for Ecuadorian police said: “Following an apparent criminal act against a businessman in the early hours of this morning in Los Rios, specialist police units are carrying out operative and investigative work on the ground.”
Armstrong is the founder of a large firm in Ecuador called Agripac that produces, distributes and sells agricultural and industrial supplies.
He is also the owner of Tupgill Park Estate in North Yorkshire, which has been in the family for 45 years.
His sons Nick and Leo Morris, help to run the sprawling 500-acre family pad that welcomes 150,000 visitors a year.
It features a famous labyrinth of tunnels, chambers and follies known as Forbidden Corner, which claims to be “the strangest place in the world”.
The 78-year-old was awarded an OBE and CMG for services to the Royal Family in 2011.