Paul Winder: Father reflects on search for son 21 years on

Paul Winder was held captive with a friend for nine months after being captured by rebels in Colombia

A father who kept notes during the time his son was held captive in South America has penned a book about the search to find him.

Paul Winder, 50, from Chelmsford, and a friend were taken hostage in 2000 on the border of Panama and Colombia.

His father Brian, 85, was inspired to turn the notes into a book detailing the experiences families go through when their child is missing.

"It was awful but I wanted to record the kindness of strangers," he said.

Brian Winder kept notes over the nine months his son was missing and collated them into a book during lockdowns.

Paul said: "I knew they'd gone through a lot... but to see it in book format it really becomes a bit more real."

Anne and Brian Winder say the worst moment was being told by a conman that Paul was dead

Paul, who was 28 at the time, and his friend Tom Hart Dyke, then 24, were captured after stumbling across rebels while hunting for a rare species of orchid in the Darien Gap.

During their captivity they were threatened with execution - and a conman hired to help find information told his parents he was dead.

Brian Winder said: "It's about what happens.

"You have been in contact with them, getting cards sent back home and so on, about every month when he was on his travels, and then suddenly they stopped and there was silence and that is what becomes a bit unbearable."

Paul Winder says he now has a better understanding of what his parents went through in their search for him

Paul said he feels that in some ways his captivity was easier than the fear of not knowing what his loved ones experienced.

While their families searched, Paul and Tom managed to find ways to improve life with their captors at times.

"We tried to imbue that sense of hilarious, kind of madcap adventure," he said.

"We sang 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' with them [captors], we taught them cricket... to kind of calm the situation.

"The thing I learnt most [from the book] was just how much they went through."

His father added: "I have appreciated more and more things like the support of family, the kindness of strangers and adventure.

"I am happy that Paul did it because I think young people have to have adventure and it is relevant to the pandemic.

"The people I have pitied during these lockdowns have been the young - they should be mixing, learning and adventuring," he said.

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