MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota family is lamenting after their cherished one was hijacked and killed while out traveling to Medellín, Colombia.
Colombian specialists affirmed Tuesday that 50-year-old Tou Ger Xiong showed up in Medellín on Nov. 29. He called a companion in the U.S. on Dec. 10 subsequent to going to meet a lady he met web based, saying he was seized and being held for a $2,000 emancipate.
Xiong was then killed, Yiri Amado Sánchez, sectional overseer of Medellín examiner’s office, said in a news meeting, adding that the supposed hijackers didn’t gather the payment cash.
Xiong’s body was found in a lush region with cut injuries, Sánchez said.
Xiong was a very much cherished comic, dissident, pleased Hmong-American, sibling, child and companion, his family said.
“That is undeniably challenging, you know? That’s what no one merits. In any case, I truly need to simply ensure that we don’t recollect him for how he kicked the bucket, yet recall him for how he lived,” Xiong’s long lasting companion, Bo Thao-Urabe said.
Thao-Urabe said Xiong made the hard things throughout everyday life, simple.
“A many individuals attempt to track down delight throughout everyday life, except he truly lived euphoria,” she said.
A support point in the Hmong people group, Xiong was a man notable for his activism, craftsmanship and endowment of giggling.
Xiong was brought into the world in Laos in 1973, he composed on his site. He and his family escaped to the US when he was a young man and arrived in St. Paul, where he graduated valedictorian from Humboldt Secondary School. He proceeded to get a degree from Carleton School.
In 2015, he assisted found Hmong Minnesota Day at the Minnesota With expressing Fair. He likewise won various honor for his work to close the racial gap — remembering the distinction of Bramble Individual for 2019.
As per the Shrubbery Establishment, Xiong was a Hmong American narrator who shared his “own accounts the nation over to fabricate social skill and address racial segregation.”
“He truly assisted individuals with feeling appreciated and included. Furthermore, he spanned ages, yet he likewise crossed over networks across culture,” Thao-Urabe said. “What’s more, never did it in a way where he was sermonizing, you know, he just drew in individuals in discourse, regardless of how hard the subject. What’s more, truly urged individuals to be all that they can be.”
Xiong’s sibling, Eh Xiong, said he is currently bringing his sibling’s body home. The family intends to make an establishment in Xiong’s name to keep his heritage pushing ahead.
“This is a grievous misfortune,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in an explanation. “Tou Ger was an unbelievable individual who was continually attempting to inspire his local area. My office is in touch with Tou Ger’s family and the consulate in Columbia as they work to take his body back to Minnesota. My considerations and petitions to God are with his friends and family during this troublesome time.”