19 December 2023 , 10:16
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Ecuadorian police are investigating claims made about the partner of a billionaire Brit kidnapped at the weekend suggesting all is not what it seems.
Local cops are said to have switched their focus to Katherine Paola Santos, partner of , former honorary consul of the United Kingdom in Guayaquil who was taken from his home with force on Saturday. Earlier a lawyer claimed Katherine's real name is Alberto Santos and had surgery to "look more feminine".
The ongoing investigation to locate Mr Armstrong is being handled by Ecuador National Police director Cesar Augusto Zapata along with a specialist anti-kidnap and extortion unit. In a tweet the force 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.”
British intelligence services are also said to be assisting the Ecuadorian-led investigation into the whereabouts of the missing expat. As well as founding and owning a large agricultural supply company in the South American country, he is a director along with his son of the 500-acre Tupgill Park Estate near Leyburn in North Yorkshire which has been the family home for more than 45 years.
Ecuador’s National Police have so far made only one official comment on the kidnap, which happened around 2.45am local time on Saturday at the British businessman’s ranch called Rancho Rodeo Grande. The ranch is located near the town of Baba in Los Rios province, two hours drive north of Guayaquil.
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Mr Colin, as he was known affectionately by staff at the ranch, is understood to have been kidnapped in an operation involving more than 15 gangsters and forcibly bundled into a black BMW he owned with his partner which was later found abandoned near the scene.
Last night it was reported Nick Armstrong, Mr Armstrong’s son who helps run the family estate in North Yorkshire, had flown to Ecuador to help police locate his father.
Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos (Instagram)
Mr Colin, as he is known by staff, with Katherine who police are investigating (Instagram)Mr Armstrong, who is thought to have previously been married to an Ecuadorian woman, has had a long association with the South America country. He founded Agripac in 1972. His adopted son Leo Morris helps run a restaurant at the family's Yorkshire estate. The estate now welcomes more than 150,000 visitors a year to an attraction known as the Forgotten Corner which was originally built as a private folly.
Footage showing the aftermath of the kidnap was posted online shortly after it happened. A woman thought to be a member of staff filming inside the ranch took close-up shots of broken plates on the floor and a man who appeared to be holding a bandage to his head.
She then walked into one of the bedrooms where there was blood over the bed and said as she focused in on the stained sheets: “This is where they hit him. My God what is this!!!” The unidentified woman appeared to be referring to the man she had previously filmed sitting on the stairs nursing what looked to be a head wound.