Netflix's The Lost Children: Why was Manuel Ranoque arrested?

The Lost Children is a documentary that premiered on Netflix on November 14, 2024. It is directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, Jorge Duran, and Lali Houghton. With a runtime of 1 hour and 36 minutes, the documentary tells the story of a daring rescue mission to find four Indigenous kids lost in the middle of the Amazon forest following a plane crash in May 2023.

The Lost Children is narrated by Nicolas Ordoñez and is produced by Richard Turley, Marta Shaw, Stefano Pozzebon, and Jamie Berry. Furthermore, Mark Bauch, Sara Bernstein, Natalia Echeverri, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Justin Wilkes, etc. serve as its executive producers.

The documentary's official logline, as per Netflix, reads:

"After a plane crash, four indigenous children fight to survive in the Colombian Amazon using ancestral wisdom as an unprecedented rescue mission unfolds."

Manuel Ranoque is the father of the Indigenous children, who survived 40 days in the Amazon forest and whose rescue efforts are showcased in the Netflix documentary, The Lost Children. He made headlines in August 2023, after he was arrested on the charges of se*ual abuse.

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What happened to the father of the rescued kids from The Lost Children?

An image taken from the documentary The Lost Children (Image via Instagram/@netflixcolombia)

On August 11, 2023, Manuel Ranoque was arrested by the Colombian police in Bogotá for se*ually abusing one of his daughters before the crash. Manuel is the stepfather of the girls Lesly Mucutuy and Soleiny Mucutuy and the biological father of son, Tien Mucutuy and daughter, Cristin Mucutuy.

The director of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, Astrid Eliana Cáceres, released the following statement in the wake of his arrest:

"We learned of the capture of the father of two Mucutuy minor children and we believe that the prosecutor’s office has operated within the full framework of the law."

Manuel was charged with se*ually assaulting a minor (Lesly) in October 2023 and is currently behind bars awaiting trial.

Manuel's shady past first came to light after the maternal grandparents fought against him for the children's sole custody. Narciso Mucutuy, the maternal grandfather, levied serious allegations against Manuel, telling the Associated Press that his daughter was a victim of domestic abuse:

"Once, he hit my daughter with a machete. Another time, Lesly hid in the forest with her siblings for three days to protect them from the beatings when (Mr Ranoque) arrived home with alcohol breath and started hitting them without mercy."

Ranoque told reporters that he had problems with his now-deceased wife, but considered it a private family matter. He, however, conceded that his behavior often turned abusive:

"Verbally all of a sudden, yes. Physically, very little, because we did more fight of words.

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What is the story of The Lost Children?

On May 1, 2023, Magdalena Mucutuy and her four children boarded a small Cessna aircraft from their home on the Indigenous reservation to visit her husband, Ranoque. Their plane flew over the Araracuara (Caquetá) – San José del Guaviare route and crashed into the dense jungle on the Apaporis River in the Amazon forest.

Magdalena and two other adults were killed in the crash, with her four children being the only survivors. They survived 40 days in the dense forest surrounded by wild animals and minimum sunlight. As the children belonged to the Indigenous Huitoto tribe, they had spent significant time in the Amazon forest and had basic skills that proved essential in their survival.

Following news of their disappearance, several military personnel and indigenous volunteers came together for the challenging rescue mission. The children reportedly stayed alive by eating fariña (a cassava flour) carried by one of the deceased passengers, fruits from the jungle, and a package of emergency supplies dropped by the military.

After an extensive search, the children, aged between 13 years and 11 months, were finally rescued on June 9, 2024.

The Lost Children tells a remarkable story from the perspective of the rescuers as they recount the unique challenges they faced while fulfilling their mission.

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Viewers can watch The Lost Children on Netflix.