Fil-Am woman, son seized in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY—More than a dozen armed men snatched three people before dawn Tuesday, including a 50-year-old naturalized American woman and her 14-year-old son, in a coastal village in Zamboanga City.

Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo, acting city police chief, identified the victims as Gerfayeatths Lunsmann, 50, her son Kevin Lunsmann, 14, and Romnick Jackaria, 19.

The Lunsmanns, who are of Filipino descent, are residents of Virginia. Jackaria, a native of Basilan, is a relative.

The Lunsmanns arrived in this city on July 1 to build resort houses in Tictabon Island.

De Ocampo said Jackaria arrived in Tictabon on Monday afternoon to help build the resort houses.

De Ocampo said at least 14 armed men stormed the house where the visiting Filipino-Americans were staying and took them.

Mohammad Nur Attang, village chair of Tictabon, said the elder Lunsmann was retracing his roots, reuniting with her biological family—the Jackarias of Tictabon Island.

Gerfayeatths is Filipina and was adopted by an American couple when she was nine-years-old, according to Attang.

De Ocampo said Lunsmann tapped the help of residents to build three resort houses for her Filipino family in Tictabon.

Mayor Celso Lobregat said he was surprised over the presence of American citizens in Tictabon Island.

Suspicion fell on the notorious terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bombings in the last two decades, or a Muslim rebel commander whose group has been linked to previous abductions.

The 400-plus Abu Sayyaf militants, who are fighting for an Islamist state in the predominantly Christian nation, are holding three other kidnap victims, including a child, as part of desperate efforts to raise funds, according to the Army.

There has been no contact or ransom demand from the abductors, and their identities remain unconfirmed, De Ocampo said.

The largest Muslim separatist group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also has a presence in the area where the abduction took place but they have been negotiating with the government amid a ceasefire that has been largely holding.

However, the military said a separatist Moro commander identified as Waning Abdulsalam may have been responsible. Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq said his group would investigate,  but that it has no such report and will not tolerate criminal activities.