Luis Diaz has broken his silence following the kidnapping of his parents in Colombia, with the Liverpool star urging followers to march to call for the release of his missing father.
Diaz was told about his parents being kidnapped on Saturday evening, less than 24 hours before Liverpool’s 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
His mother, Cilenis Marulanda, has since been freed from the kidnappers, but the whereabouts of his father, Luis Manuel, remain unknown.
The post invited the ‘whole community’ and urged them to ‘bring your candle to light the light of hope, with the image ending with the urge to the captors to ‘free him now’.
Liverpool star Luis Diaz encouraged supporters to attend a march to call for his father’s release
The march took place in their hometown of Barrancas with supporters holding white balloons
Footage of the march in their hometown of Barrancas showed supporters carrying white balloons and chanting for the release of Diaz’s father.
Police have been carrying out patrols across the Perija mountain range in search of Diaz’s father, amid concerns he may have been smuggled over Colombia’s border into Venezuela.
Colombia’s national police director Gen William Salamanca joined the search on Monday, with the range covered by a forest.
He express caution on reports Luis Manuel may have already been taken into Venezuela, given the difficultly of crossing the range.
More details of the kidnapping have emerged recently, with Semana’s report claiming Diaz’s parents were buying watermelons when they were taken by four armed men on motorcycles.
After the police enacted a ‘padlock’ operation to find the couple, the assailants reportedly abandoned Diaz’s stolen car and continued on three motorcycles, two of which were taken from civilians.
Diaz’s mother was freed from her ordeal with a reward of 200 million Colombian pesos [around £40,000] offered by the authorities for information.
The Colombian army have since issued a statement confirming Diaz’s father is still being looked for with the assistance of ‘two motorised platoons, unmanned aircraft, checkpoints, helicopters, a plane with specialised radar and more than 120 men’.
Diaz was reportedly persuaded not to return home amid concerns for his own safety
A reward of around £40,000 has been offered for information about Luis Diaz’s father’s kidnapping
Colombia’s national police director Gen William Salamanca joined the search on Monday
Liverpool’s assistant coach Lijnders has provided an update on how the club are trying to help Diaz following the distressing incident.
‘Lucho is the guy who always smiles. We really care about him,’ Lijnders said.
‘We try to support him as much as we can. A lot of things are out of our hands. We pray that they find his dad and everything is good. The whole club is behind him.’
According to a report from Colombian magazine Semana, Diaz was keen to return to his country of birth to try and find his father, but he was persuaded by relatives to stay in England.
This decision was made after concerns were raised about his own safety if he opted to go back to Colombia.
