( CNN ) -- The Guatemalan army stole at least 333 children and sold them for adoption in other countries during the Central American nation 's 36-year civil war , a government report has concluded . Around 45,000 people are believed to have disappeared during Guatemala 's civil war , 5,000 of them children . Many of those children ended up in the United States , as well as Sweden , Italy and France , said the report 's author and lead investigator , Marco Tulio Alvarez . In some cases , the report said , parents were killed so the children could be taken and given to government-operated agencies to be adopted abroad . In other instances , the children were abducted without physical harm to the parents . `` This was a great abuse by the state , '' Alvarez told CNN on Friday . Investigators started examining records in May 2008 for a period that spanned from 1977-89 , said Alvarez , the director of the Guatemalan Peace Archive , a commission established by President Alvaro Colom . Of 672 records investigators looked at , Alvarez said , they determined that 333 children had been stolen . The children were taken for financial and political reasons , he said . Alvarez acknowledges that many more children possibly were taken . Investigators zeroed in on the 1977-89 period because peak adoptions occurred during that time frame , particularly in 1986 . They will investigate through 1995 and hope to have another report ready by early next year , he said . A presidential ministry has determined that about 45,000 people disappeared during the nation 's civil war , which lasted from 1960 to 1996 . About 5,000 of those were children , the ministry said . Another 200,000 people died in the conflict between the leftist guerrillas and right-wing governments . The nation 's public ministry and attorney general 's office will determine whether anyone is prosecuted over the abductions , Alvarez said . Asked if he would like to see prosecutions , Alvarez answered , `` I hope so . '' Alvarez said he has attended several reunions of abducted children -- now adults -- and family members . `` I ca n't tell you how happy that makes me , '' he said . Adoption has served as a source of income in Guatemala for decades . The war just made it easier for abuses at the hands of soldiers to occur . Guatemala has the world 's highest per capita rate of adoption and is one of the leading providers of adoptive children for the United States . Nearly one in 100 babies born in Guatemala end up with adoptive parents in the United States , according to the U.S. consulate in Guatemala . Adoptions can cost up to $ 30,000 , providing a large financial incentive in a country where the World Bank says about 75 percent of the people live below the poverty level . Officials fear that often times mothers are paid -- or coerced -- into giving up their children . Some unscrupulous lawyers and notaries , who have greater power in Guatemala than they do in the United States , have taken advantage of the extreme poverty and limited government oversight over adoptions to enrich themselves . Alvarez said corrupt lawyers and notaries were the driving force behind many of the army abductions of children . The problem is confounded because many Guatemalan parents ca n't provide for their children . The United Nations ' World Food Programme says Guatemala has the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean . Chronic undernutrition affects about half of the nation 's children under the age of 5 , the U.N. agency said . Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom Caballeros declared a state of national calamity this week because so many citizens do not have food or proper nutrition . Despite the nation 's problems , Alvarez hopes some good will come of the report , which was released Thursday . `` We have to tell the truth about what happened , '' he said . `` Guatemalan society must know what happened and must never allow it to happen again . '' CNN 's Arthur Brice contributed to this report .
Children stolen for adoption in the U.S. , Sweden , Italy and France , report says . Some parents were killed , others were unharmed when soldiers came calling . Investigators examined period between 1977 and 1989 , 'peak ' adoption period . Reports says many more could have been taken , investigation underway .