At least they are alive - so there's something to work with here.
Hoping for a rapid and happy conclusion to this. Thoughts with the crew and all family members and colleagues.
Colombian military says guerrillas kidnapped two Canadians and Frenchman
07:17 PM EDT May 04
BOGOTA (AP) - Colombia's armed forces chief said Thursday a helicopter that vanished with two Canadians and a Frenchman aboard two weeks ago had made an emergency landing and that rebels kidnapped those aboard.
Gen. Fernando Tapias, commander of Colombia's armed forces, said intelligence sources and intercepted communications from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that showed the rebels had kidnapped the occupants of the Bell 212 chopper which disappeared on April 19 after refuelling in Cali, Colombia's third largest city.
Those aboard - Gilles Pregent, a pilot from Montreal; Jay Riddell, a mechanic from Vancouver; and Pierre Galipon, a Frenchman who is a partner in the company that owns the chopper, Heliamerica - had been flying the aircraft from Canada to Peru.
Tapias did not specify where the helicopter was forced to land, saying only it was somewhere in the mountains of southern Colombia's Cauca or Narino states. The FARC has a heavy presence in that area. Civil aviation officials said the last radio contact with the helicopter was near the town of Mercaderes, some 320 kilometres southwest of Bogota, in Cauca state.
A Heliamerica official reached late Thursday said no one had contacted the company demanding a ransom. The official, who asked not to be named, was surprised that Tapias would announce the apparent kidnapping without anyone from the Colombian government contacting the company first.
"How strange that he would say this to journalists before contacting us," the official said.
Heliamerica purchased the aircraft - the civilian version of the famed Huey helicopter - in Calgary, Canada, and was bringing it to Peru. With offices in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and Lima, Peru, the company provides helicopter services to oil companies, officials said.
Authorities believe the FARC has stolen two other helicopters this year, as well as several small planes.
Colombia has the highest kidnapping rate in the world, with more than 3,000 people taken hostage last year.