According to Jhon Jairo Velásquez alias Popeye - then hitman of Pablo Escobar - Hoyos was kidnapped since Escobar wanted to have him politically judged on the grounds of treason. Such accusation was based on Escobar being informed on Hoyos being allegedly bribed by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to approve the extradition of Colombian citizens to the United States, while also receiving money from Escobar to abolish it. Furthermore, Popeye stated that Hoyos, being wounded, was captured, taken away and hidden in a ranch located at the east of Antioquia, where he then was guarded by three men. Because of the deployed military sweeping operations on the zone, Escobar would order Popeye to kill him. Hence Popeye would put on a sweater and glasses, get in an old Jeep, which previously he had filled with books and medicine, and drive to the zone. On the road, there would be a military checkpoint that made him stop the car. Popeye then would claim that he was a student and that was in a hurry to get to a nearby ranch because a sick relative needed the medicine with urgency. His convincing story would let him get through the military checkpoint. Upon arriving at the ranch, Popeye would explain Hoyos the reason of his kidnapping and let Hoyos know that he would be executed immediately, since his trial had to be brought on earlier because of the military operations on the zone. Velásquez himself then would kill Hoyos by shooting him three times, take his body and abandoned it near a dried riverbed, near where Andrés Pastrana was being kept in captivity.
