Resolution as to the fate of three American missionaries kidnapped in Panama in 1993 by Colombian guerrillas continues to evade family and friends.
The latest news was the discovery of bone fragments in northwestern Colombia, but Colombia’s attorney general, Romulo Gonzalez-Trujillo, said the fragments are not human remains. The clarification was given after Colombian television, citing anonymous military sources, indicated the remains found the weekend of March 19 were those of the missionaries.
The remains were exhumed outside the jungle town of Acandi near the border with Panama where the missionaries disappeared.
Three bags of bone fragments were taken to a medical institute in Medellin for examination.
The missionaries, Richard Tenenoff, David Mankins and Mark Rich of the Florida-based New Tribes Mission, were kidnapped in 1993 from their mission station in Panama and were held in the Colombian jungles before they were reportedly killed. The men had been working with Kuna Indians.
Officials have reported no verified contact with the captors since a year after their disappearance. However, unconfirmed sightings of the men have been reported. (CD)
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