WORLD : Kidnaped Colombian TV Editor Slain

MEDELLIN, Colombia —  A television editor who was kidnaped by gunmen Wednesday was found shot dead early today in a forest outside Medellin, a center of drug smuggling, police said.

Jorge Leon Vallejo, 30, was dragged from his television production company by three armed men and bundled into a red car, said a spokesman for the firm, Programadora Pasado Meridano. Vallejo had worked for three years as an editor at the company, which produces a regional economic news program and an interview show.

Police said they did not know a motive for the killing. The company spokesman said that as far as he knew, Vallejo had not received death threats. Killings of journalists in Colombia are commonly preceded by death threats. Since April 6, four journalists, including Vallejo, have been shot dead, police said.