Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Monday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years.
The U.S. Central Command says negotiations had been under way to try to win release of the two couples on the pirated vessel Quest.
More related to this storySomali pirate sentenced to nearly 34 years in U.S. prison Pirate killed in cargo ship hijack shootout On board the pirate-hunting HMCS Winnipeg Gunshots were heard, but when U.S. forces reached the yacht, they found all four hostages had been shot.
The yacht Quest was hijacked on Friday off the coast of Oman, and owned by Scott Adam and his wife Jean, a couple from California. Organizers of the Blue Water Rally yacht race said the couple had with them two other Americans, Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, both from Seattle.
The Adams, who were members of the Marina del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Ray, California, run a Bible ministry, according to their website, and had been sailing the world with a yacht full of Bibles since 2004. They had been distributing the Bibles to schools and churches in remote villages in areas including the Fiji Islands, Alaska, New Zealand, Central America and French Polynesia.
Robert K. Johnston of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena told The Associated Press that Mr. Adam — who last year earned a master of theology degree from the school — had sent friends emails detailing his international sailing trip. But Mr. Adam went silent Feb. 12 to avoid revealing the location of his yacht, the Quest, to pirates.
Mr. Johnston said that despite an adventurous spirit, the Adams were meticulous planners who knew the dangers they faced. The couple had sailed with a large flotilla to stay safe from pirates near Thailand earlier in the trip.
“They knew and we knew they still had to go by the Somalia coast,” he said.
Mr. Adam, now in his mid-60s, had been an associate producer in Hollywood when he turned in a spiritual direction and enrolled in the seminary a decade ago, Mr. Johnston said.
“He decided he could take his pension, and he wanted to serve God and humankind,” he said.
Mr. Johnston and Mr. Adam worked together to start a film and theology institute. Mr. Adam also taught a class on church and media at the school.
Craig Detweiler, a professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, who attended Fuller with Mr. Adam in the 1990s and early 2000s, also recalled his friend's adventurous spirit.
“It is safe to say all of his family and friends covet the prayers and concerns of the international community,” Mr. Detweiler said.
Two pirates died during the ensuing confrontation with U.S. Navy forces, and 13 were captured and detained. The remains of two other pirates who were already dead also were found. In total the U.S. said that 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the Quest.
The hijacking of their yacht came two days after a Somali pirate was sentenced to 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. That case ended when Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship's captain.
Pirates have increased attacks on ships off the coast of East Africa, but Americans have rarely been targeted. The last attack against a U.S. crew — in 2009 — ended with Navy sharpshooters killing two pirates and rescuing the ship's captain.
Pirates currently hold 30 ships and more than 660 hostages, not counting the attack against the Quest.
The best-known case of Westerners being held hostage in Somalia was that of Paul and Rachel Chandler, a British couple held for 388 days. The two, who were captured while sailing in their private yacht, were released in November.
