Awkward Twist for Family of U.S. Hostage
June 14, 2001 -- The wife of an American businessman kidnapped in the Philippines filed a missing persons report the day he was abducted by a Muslim rebel group from a posh resort in the southern Philippines, ABCNEWS.com has learned.
In the report, Fanny Sobero, the wife of Guillermo Sobero said he left home on May 23 for Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border with his brother but he had been to the Philippines earlier this year and she had suspicions that he had a "Muslim girlfriend" there.
On May 27, two days before his 40th birthday, Sobero was in a resort on Palawan Island in the Philippines when Abu Sayyaf rebels, a Muslim separatist group, stormed the resort, kidnapping him along with two other U.S. citizens and 17 other people.
More than two weeks after the kidnappings, a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf said the group had beheaded Sobero, although U.S. State Department officials are skeptical of the claim, saying there is no proof Sobero was killed.
That Fanny Sobero did not know the 40-year-old California businessman was in the Philippines has added an awkward twist to an already traumatic situation.
Mrs. Sobero's first inkling that her husband wasn't in the United States was a phone call from a reporter asking if she knew the kidnapped man.
The missing persons report said the Soberos were "going through a divorce."
Unaware of Father's Ordeal
While yellow ribbons flutter on the trees near Sobero's Corona. Calif., home, neighbors have been grappling with a mix of emotions.
"Of course this is not the first time I heard about it, but it's none of my business," said Cherrill Renwick, 67, a neighbor who has known the Soberos since they moved in seven years ago. "It doesn't change the way I think. I just hope they get him back. He has four children, three little ones. My prayers are with them."
The Soberos' three sons, ages 2, 3 and 6, do not know about their father's ordeal. His 13-year-old daughter from a previous marriage is aware of the situation, family members have said.
No Negotiations With Rebels
While the family awaits news of Sobero's whereabouts, Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes told reporters the government had received unconfirmed reports that the rebels would release some of the hostages today. Reyes declined to divulge the source of his information.
However, by dusk, there were no signs of any releases and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo today announced her government was abandoning attempts to negotiate with Abu Sayyaf rebels.
The news came as the Philippine government announced that two Malaysians, who had in the past negotiated with Abu Sayyaf rebels, today declined to participate in the talks following rebel claims that they had beheaded Sobero.
Earlier this week, three bodies were found on Basilan Island in the southern Philippines, where the rebels are believed to holding the hostages. None of them were American.
The Abu Sayyaf, which is fighting to carve out an independent Islamic state from the southern Philippines, is notorious for using the media as part of its negotiating tactics, and has in the past released its foreign captives in exchange for multimillion-dollar ransoms.
No Plans for U.S. Intervention
Senior U.S. officials say they are in close contact with their counterparts in the Philippines, but have no plans to intervene militarily.
"We continue to work intensively with Philippine government authorities to ascertain the facts on the reported death," State Department spokesman Phil Reeker told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. "And we continue to call for the safe, immediate, and unconditional release of all the innocent persons beingheld."
A senior U.S. official told ABCNEWS that sources in the Philippines had seen a videotape of a beheading, but it was not immediately clear who the victim was.
Along with Sobero, Martin and Gracia Burnham, two missionaries from Wichita, Kan., and 17 others were taken from a posh resort on the Sulu Sea on May 27.
ABCNEWS' Martha Raddatz in Washington contributed to this report.