What You Didn't Know About Pablo Escobar's Oldest Son, Roberto Sendoya Escobar

It is usually very hard for children of famous fathers to climb out of their shadows, but it can happen. George W. Bush also became president of the United States, like his father, George H.W. Bush (per Britannica). Ken Griffey Jr. had a much more illustrious baseball career than his father, Ken Griffey Sr. (via Baseball Reference). Mariska Hargitay has had an excellent acting career that is more than equal to her mother, Jayne Mansfield, per IMDb. 

Growing up with a famous parent can create a lot of pressure on the child. They may feel like they have to live up to the legacy, and there have been many who have decided to shun the pressure. There is nothing wrong with that — it's their life to live, and they have every right to be happy. Now imagine that your father is Pablo Escobar, one of the most notorious drug kingpins in history. That made life very interesting — and sometimes hard — for his oldest son, Roberto Sendoya Escobar. 

Let's forget about the fact that Roberto Sendoya Escobar is Pablo Escobar's son. That alone sounds like something from a movie, but it gets even wilder. He was found in a cot by a British MI6 agent who had just shot Roberto's teenage mother, according to The Irish News. That agent, whose name was Patrick Witcomb, then wound up adopting the baby and renaming him Phillip Witcomb. Most movie producers would already have pushed the script for this story back across the table for being too unbelievable.  

Yet it gets even more amazing. Phillip grew up in opulence since Patrick had infiltrated Pablo Escobar's circle. That meant that he had servants catering to his every need. But Pablo also figured out who Phillip really was and regularly sent his men to try to bring him back. This resulted in Patrick's bodyguards sometimes having to kill these henchmen. It all finally ended when Phillip was sent to boarding school in England to protect him. Eventually, Patrick told Phillip who his biological father was, and both Pablo and Patrick wound up dying in the same year — 1993. 

Yes, Phillip has written a book about it, which was excerpted in the U.K. version of GQ, and it would not be surprising to see it being made into a movie. Movie producers would do well to give the green light for this one.