Community Corner

Update: Somali Pirates Shoot Dead Former O.C. Couple; One Pirate Killed in Knife Battle

Retired couple had been sailing the world delivering Bibles.

A Southland couple kidnapped last week by Somali pirates who seized their yacht in the Indian Ocean have been killed by their captors, who also killed two other American hostages, it was reported today.

Jean and Scott Adam, former residents of Newport Beach, were fatally shot late Monday aboard their 58-foot sailboat Quest off the coast of Somalia, authorities said.

U.S. naval forces, who were trailing the Americans' captured yacht with four warships, quickly boarded the vessel after hearing the gunfire and tried to provide lifesaving care to the Americans, but they died of their wounds, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement from Tampa, Fla. Also killed were Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle.

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A member of a U.S. special operations force killed one of the pirates with a knife as he went inside of the yacht, said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of U.S. Naval forces for Central Command. Another pirate was shot during the confrontation and 13 others were captured and detained along with two pirates already in the custody of U.S. forces. The remains of two additional pirates were found aboard the Quest.  In total, it is believed 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the S/V Quest.

The Adams, a retired couple, had been sailing around the world for more  than seven years in their yacht. They were unhappy being "dirt dwellers" so they took to the sea on their yacht, distributing Bibles around the world, their website said. Photos show a smiling couple who delivered Bibles to remote villages "from New Zealand to Alaska to Central America—and now from Panama, through French Polynesia, the Cooks, Samoa, Tonga and back to New Zealand."

"We seek fertile ground for the Word and homes for our Bibles," the website said. "Often, the ultimate homes are best found by people who are already living locally and seeking and cultivating that fertile ground. AND even more extraordinary are the times when people have been praying for Bibles for their group or their schools and when we arrive we are often greeted by the attitude of, 'We were expecting you.'"

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Their voyage began in December 2004 and was expected to last 8 or 10 years, the website said. The leg of the journey begun this winter went from India to the Mediterranean, by way of the Arabian and Red seas. The couple hoped to reach Crete in the spring before sailing to Istanbul.

"Djibouti is a big refueling stop. I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we'll do some local touring. Due north is the Red Sea where we plan to tuck in when winds turn to the north," Jean Adams wrote on the site.

Four Navy ships had been following the Quest after it was seized by the pirates, and negotiations had been under way for the release of the hostages when the talks apparently broke down.

The United States "strongly condemns the murder of four U.S. citizens," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement, adding, "This deplorable act firmly underscores the need for continued international progress toward confronting the shared security challenge posed by piracy in the waters off the Horn of Africa."

Piracy has flourished off Somalia's coast for two decades. Since 2005, many international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.

HIGHJACKED SEATTLE COUPLE THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE OK.

— City News Service and AOL


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