Jill (Duggar) Dillard's Murdered Friend Identified; Family Mourning 'With the Help of God'

Jill Dillard
Jill Dillard revealed how a friend was tragically kidnapped and murdered while she and her husband Derick were completing Christian mission work in Central America. TLC

The family of German Daniel Serrano Orellana, the friend of Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband, Derick, who was tragically kidnapped and murdered in Central America, have said they are grieving their loss "with the help of God."

Orellana, a Salvadorian father and grandfather, was working alongside the Counting On couple for SOS Ministries, a Christian non-profit, when he was kidnapped, killed, and later discovered by a family in a nearby river, his brother, Geovani, told RadarOnline.com.

"We are bad, but we must continue struggling with the help of God," Geovani told Radar in Spanish, adding that the death was gang-related.

The central American country "is very dangerous," he revealed.

However, Geovani told Radar he doesn't believe that cops are investigating the tragic event.

"My mother is very sad," he said.

As The Gospel Herald previously reported, pregnant Jill, 26, and Derick, 28, returned to the United States and attended church on Sunday just days after the murder.

"So grateful to be back in the States and get to go to our church this morning @crosschurch #Israeliswithgrandma #lovetheUSA," the pregnant 26-year-old captioned a selfie with her 28-year-old husband.

Currently, they are living in their native Arkansas, awaiting 19-year-old sister Joy Anna's upcoming wedding.The Dillards first announced the news of their friend's murder in a blog post.

"We received a phone call on Monday from a friend here in Central America informing us that one of our other good friends (a fellow Christian) had been murdered the day before and that his family had found his body down by the river earlier that morning!"

"As you'll recall from our last email, we talked about these friends of ours who we'd had the opportunity to invite into the hospitality house for a meal recently as they have been going through a really tough time after the death of his grandmother and murder of his 20 year old cousin and then the stroke his daughter had when she received the news.

"Now they have been spending most of the time in their home for fear of being kidnapped or killed as violence has escalated in their area.

"Even though we had spoke with our friend and his family about the realities of the dangers here, and especially in their area right now, we were shocked when we learned of his kidnap and murder.

"We've had them into our home three times in the past couple weeks!"

They concluded: "Please pray for our friend's wife, son, daughter, granddaughter and other relatives. Please also pray for God to allow the local church and us to reach out to their family and be able to love on and comfort them during this difficult time."

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