The family of a Colombian-Frenchwoman who was kidnapped by rebels four years ago, has dropped thousands of leaflets over the western Colombia mountains from an airplane, asking for information about her.

Aida Botero de Duvaltier was abducted in March 2001 by a tiny leftist guerrilla group called Popular Liberation Army. Although the family later paid a ransom demanded by the rebels, Botero de Duvaltier has not been released.

The family on Sunday dropped 50,000 leaflets over the western Colombian states of Antioquia, Caldas and Risaralda, close to where Botero de Duvaltier was abducted. The leaflets urged the rebels and anybody else who might have information to come forward.

‘‘This is an important thing to do so that the problem is not forgotten and everybody living in the region knows about her,” the hostage’s daughter, Maria Elena Duvaltier, told Caracol radio on Monday. She said the family has received no proof that her mother is alive.

Botero de Duvaltier is one of two Colombian-French women believed held hostage in Colombia.

In 2002, Colombia’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt, a politician and former presidential candidate, seeking to swap her and dozens of other hostages for their members held in government prisons. The deal, however, remains far off.

Colombia is embroiled in a 41-year-old civil war that pits the leftist rebels against a right-wing paramilitary factions and government forces, killing more than 3,000 people every year.