Whatever became of American hostage Jeffrey Ake?

[Contrary1]

Something doesn't seem right about this one. The family was advised by the FBI to keep quiet about it because "with pleas and going public, you have the potential to inflate the value of the hostage and make him worth more in the eyes of the hostage-taker. And that's dangerous."
:wtf:

I find that reasoning hard to accept, especially with this administration's chest-thumping and bravado surrounding the hostages taken before Ake. Six months later...nothing. I wonder why.


LAPORTE, Ind. -- The lack of attention on Jeffrey Ake baffles people here.
On April 11, when Ake was seized by gunmen outside Baghdad, the well-known and longtime LaPorte resident was national news. He was in Iraq doing business as the country rebuilds, helping to build a water bottling plant.

For the people of LaPorte, population: 22,000, it was a strange and frightening thing to see a neighbor -- a guy you'd see around town, a businessman, a husband and father of four, a Rotarian -- ashen-faced, shaken, surrounded by hooded gunmen on a grainy videotape from the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera.

<snip>

And then, suddenly, Ake was not news. The candlelight vigil was canceled. Ake's neighbors suddenly went silent.

Today, with the six-month anniversary of his disappearance coming Tuesday, Ake's whereabouts remain unknown. The equally nagging question beyond what happened to him is why folks in LaPorte are mum about it.

More... http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051009/NEWS06/510090534/1006/NEWS01

[babylonsister]

1. Are you from there and know of this?

Seems very suspect to me as well, and the fact that he was there and now is not, with no news, makes a body go hmmmmmm. Why isn't his family demanding answers?

[Contrary1]

2. I live in Indianapolis

which is about 185 from this man's home town. A few weeks after his abduction, the family put a For Sale sign in their front yard, loaded up their belongings into trucks, and left with a police escort.

I can't tell by the article if they moved back into the home or not, just the fact that the For Sale sign is no longer up is mentioned.

I don't quite know what to make of it. Very odd behavior, IMHO.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Curioser and Curioser.