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Burnhams: A Year in Captivity

Missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham have been held hostage since May 2001.
May 27, 2002
The family of Martin and Gracia Burnham are marking a grim anniversary today: a full year that the Kansas missionaries have been held captive by Philippine guerrillas.

 "We want to go home alive to our family," Martin Burnham said in a videotape released to news organizations in February. "We can hardly express it in words."

For the past year, the Burnhams have been held captive somewhere deep in the Philippine jungle, moving frequently with their captors, who are fleeing the Philippine military. The captors are members of Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim militant group which reportedly has ties to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network.

U.S. forces joined the search five months ago, but military officials compared the task to finding a tiny tack in a backyard. Last month, the United States helped arrange a ransom agreement that included $300,000 in privately raised money.

ABCNEWS learned last month that the cash was handed to an individual who claimed ties to the terrorist group, but U.S. officials were never able to verify that he delivered the money.

"We just know that there was an agreement made, and Martin and Gracia were to be released, and they were not," Martin's mother Oreta Burnham told Good Morning America. "What went wrong or what happened we don't know, but we do know that they have not been released as the agreement was made."

The Burnhams said they speak to officials at the State Department every day, but have received no new information recently. U.S. officials are still hoping that the release will be negotiated, with the help of joint efforts by the Philippine and American militaries.

Children Wait Patiently for Parents

The missionaries have three children, ranging in age from 11 to 15, who are being taken care of by the grandparents. The separation has been hard for the children.

"I think they've been very patient, and very understanding, and they've had many friends and a lot of support," Oreta Burnham said. "Yet, one year is a long time to be separated abruptly from your mother and father."

Oreta and Paul Burnham first went to the Philippines with their children as missionaries in 1970, and spent most of the past 32 years there.

Martin and Gracia married in 1983 after meeting at a Bible college in Kansas City. Two years later, they went to the Philippines to be missionaries together. Martin became a mission pilot, flying passengers and supplies for New Tribes Mission, a Florida-based group that teaches tribal people about Christianity.

Anniversary Celebration Gone Awry

Last May, the couple went to a seafront hotel on the Philippine island of Palawan, taking a rare day away from their work to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary. The militant group abducted the couple, along with 16 other people from the hotel. All of the others have either been killed or released.

The Philippine media recently reported that both of the Burnhams were ill, and that Martin Burnham was seen last week being carried on a stretcher by his captors. In the February videotape, both of the Burnhams had appeared gaunt, and Martin had said that he was chained at nightfall, though his wife was not.

Paul Burnham said that the new reports of the couple's ill health are not trustworthy.

"We're hearing that they're up and around, though they've been in such a long time they're probably malnourished, with sores and infections," Paul Burnham said. The couple may have had malaria at one point, but the family is fairly sure they are able to walk.

The family last received letters from the couple in January, which included information on their condition, and personal notes to their children. Throughout the ordeal, their faith has helped them deal with the anxiety of waiting, the Burnham grandparents said.

"We feel like the Lord is really in control, and we just want to praise him for keeping Martin and Gracia together, and for keeping them alive," Paul Burnham said.

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