Body of U.S. expat found in Guayaquil

Ecuadorian national police have unearthed the body of a 65-year-old U.S. citizen buried under a house in Guayaquil. They reported that the body of Jonathan Charles Gilchrist, a resident of Salinas, was found buried under a concrete slab.

Police commander Edisson Barrera discusses the case.

Prosecutor Santiago Rivadeneira said Friday that two women who lived in the house were taken into custody under suspicion of murder. Neighbors reported that they had seen the women with an elderly North American on several occasions.

Rivadeneira said police are looking for at least one man they believe was involved in Gilchrist’s disappearance and alleged murder.

According to the prosecutors office, Gilchrist was a well-to-do investor who owned property in several coastal communities as well as Cuenca. He had been reported missing in Salinas in January.

The police report said that Gilchrist’s body was buried two meters below ground-level, covered by a concrete slab in the northern Guayaquil suburb of Mucho Lote.

Rivadeneira said his office believes that the motive of the murder was robbery. “Based on what we know about the women, we believe they were involved in the crime with at least one male accomplice.”