Netflix's 'The Lost Children:' Where Are the Mucutuy Kids Now? A Look at Their Lives One Year After Surviving a Plane Crash and 40 Days in the Jungle (2024)

On May 1, 2023, a single-engine plane crashed into the Amazon rainforest in Colombia. Though the three adults onboard died, the four children, aged 11 months to 13 years old, survived. The eldest daughter, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, was injured.

Despite having few supplies, the siblings stayed alive in the jungle for 40 days before being found by Colombian soldiers. After the rescue, Colombian President Gustavo Petro told CNN that their survival “will be remembered in history."

The miraculous tale of bravery and resilience by Lesly, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, Tien Ranoque Mucutuy and Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy — who were 13, 9, 4 and almost a year old, respectively, at the time of the crash — is explored in Netflix’s The Lost Children.

The documentary premiered on Nov. 14 and showed viewers how the children stayed alive and what tools eventually allowed them to be found.

So what happened to The Lost Children after their shocking survival? Here’s everything to know about where the four Mucutuy siblings are now.

What happened to the Mucutuy siblings after their plane crashed?

The Lost Children tells the true story of how Lesly, Tien, Soleiny and Cristin survived both a violent plane crash and over a month of living in the Amazon rainforest.

According to The Washington Post, the children boarded the small, six-seater plane with their mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, on May 1, 2023. The family’s village had allegedly been taken over by a criminal group, and they were fleeing to Bogotá, Colombia, to start a new life with Magdalena’s husband and Tien and Cristin’s father, Manuel Miller Ranoque.

But the plane never made it. The engine failed 35 minutes into the flight, and the aircraft plunged head-first into the jungle floor. Miraculously, the back of the plane where the children were seated was barely damaged. The three adults seated up front died during and after the crash.

What happened to the Mucutuy siblings' mother?

The three adults on board — pilot Hernán Murcia, Indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández and Magdalena — were found dead when Colombian soldiers located the wrecked plane two weeks after the crash.

Ranoque told reporters that Lesly told him after the rescue that the mother of four initially survived the crash and lived for at least four days. Lesly told him that Magdalena eventually instructed the children to leave her.

“Before she died, she said to them: ‘Maybe you should go. You guys are going to see the kind of man your dad is, and he’s going to show you the same kind of great love that I have shown you,’ ” Ranoque said, according to The Guardian.

How did the Mucutuy siblings survive?

For over a month, Lesly, Tien, Soleiny and Cristin lived off seeds, roots and plants they could identify as edible. Their great uncle, Fidencio Valencia, told reporters they also ate a type of flour called fariña that the plane happened to be transporting, per AP.

To protect themselves against the jungle’s many predators, the kids hid in tree trunks. Fidencio said this strategy may have also contributed to why it took rescuers so long to find them: “They were afraid out there, with the dogs barking.”

They eventually made friends with one of those barking military rescue dogs, a Belgian shepherd named Wilson. Even though Lesly's knowledge of the jungle kept the children alive, all four were still in an emaciated state when they were found on June 9, 2023, three miles from the crash site.

“The minor children were already very weak,” General Pedro Sánchez, who was in charge of the rescue effort, told The Guardian. “They were only strong enough to breathe or reach a small fruit to feed themselves or drink a drop of water in the jungle.”

After a 34-day hospital stay in Bogotá, the children were released and placed into the care of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF).

Where are the Mucutuy siblings now?

As of summer 2024, Lesly, Tien, Soleiny and Cristin are still under government care.

ICBF posted an update on the Mucutuy siblings in June 2024, one year after they were found, saying they “spend their days enjoying and learning.” The children have reportedly overcome the physical ailments they acquired in the jungle and are working with psychologists to treat the emotional trauma of the ordeal. Lesly, Tien, Soleiny and Cristin have not been separated since their rescue.

“They have always supported each other and in the company of their families, as well as people who love and protect them,” the translated statement read. “They pursue their studies and enjoy the life that boys and girls should have at that age.”

Who has custody of the Mucutuy siblings?

AP reported in June 2024 that authorities are waiting for a case worker to decide who will be awarded custody of the Mucutuy siblings. Both their maternal grandparents, Fátima Valencia and Narciso Mucutuy, and Ranoque, Tien and Cristin’s father, have requested to have legal custody.

"I'm sad because I am still not with the children," Fátima told Colombia's Caracol TV in 2024. "But I am very thankful to those who helped us rescue them."

What happened to the Mucutuy siblings' father?

Ranoque was imprisoned in August 2024 for accusations that he sexually abused one of the Mucutuy siblings prior to the crash. He was formally charged in October for sexually assaulting a minor, which he denies. According to The Lost Children, he’s in jail awaiting trial.

Narciso claimed to reporters in Colombia that Ranoque physically abused Magdalena and that the children would sometimes hide in the forest while they fought. Fátima filed a police complaint for domestic violence against Ranoque after the plane crash.