Dec. 13 (UPI) — Colombian authorities continued a search for suspects Wednesday in the kidnapping murder of Tou Ger Xiong, a Hmong-American comedian in Minnesota.
Xiong was described in a local media report as a pillar of the Twin Cities community and a highly regarded Hmong-American activist, speaker and comedian.
He was murdered after being kidnapped during a date with a woman he met online in Colombia. His brother confirmed the slaying Tuesday.
“It is with immense sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the discovery of the body of our beloved family member, Tou Ger Xiong, who had been the victim of a kidnapping and murder,” Eh Xiong wrote on Facebook.
He told KSTP that one alleged kidnapper has been arrested.
Xiong called a friend in Colombia to say the kidnappers were holding him at gunpoint and demanding $2,000 ($8 million in Colombian pesos) to release him.
His brother Eh said Tou Ger asked for the $2,000 Sunday, but after hours went by without confirming he got the money, Eh contacted the friend in Colombia and the friend filed a police report.
The kidnappers killed Xiong a day later without getting the money. His body was found Monday in the La Corcovado ravine near Medellin. Local authorities said he had sustained dozens of stab wounds.
Xiong was born in 1973 in Laos and came to the United States in 1975. He helped organize the first Hmong Minnesota Day in 2015 and was named a Bush Fellow in 2019.
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., wrote on X, “This is devastating news. My heart goes out to Tou Ger Xiong’s family and our entire Hmong community. As a comedian and activist, his work touched many lives in the Twin Cities and beyond.”
In November, kidnappers released the father of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz after he was abducted and held for 13 days.
