Case file · Folklore / legend
The four Huitoto children and the yagé search
Four Huitoto children survived 40 days alone after their Cessna crashed near Solano, Caquetá, on 1 May 2023. Indigenous searchers said Selva Madre, the mother forest, was hiding them, and held yagé (ayahuasca) ceremonies to find them; they were found on 9 June.
2023 CE · 0.91, -72.41 · status: account
The account
Volunteer Henry Guerrero told AP that the first ceremony failed, and that an elder drank the last of the yagé the night before the children were found. The army and President Petro credited both Indigenous knowledge and the military search, which included the dog Wilson.
The sceptical view
The children were found by a large ground search in a narrowed area; the ritual's role is the searchers' own account.