A world away, family remains at rebels' mercy

With their son held hostage since February by Colombian guerrillas, a Bradenton couple is forced to hang their hopes on U.S. diplomacy.

BRADENTON - The American flag flying outside the home of Gene and Lynne Stansell carries extra significance this holiday season.

Not only are their thoughts with the troops in Iraq, they also pray for their son, Keith Stansell, held hostage by left-wing guerrillas in Colombia for more than 11 months.

They have not had contact with Keith since he was captured with two co-workers by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. They fell into rebel hands after their plane crashed in the jungle Feb. 13 over FARC territory.

To make matters worse, Keith Stansell's parents say they have not been fully informed about the circumstances of the crash or about efforts to win his release.

"We are in the dark," said Gene Stansell, 75, a retired Miami school principal. "We have no clue."

His son, a 39-year-old flight engineer, was on a counternarcotics reconnaissance mission as part of Washington's program to eradicate Colombia's illegal drug crops.

Though Keith Stansell was on a job financed by the U.S. government, the operation was subcontracted by the Pentagon to a private firm, California Microwave. The company is a subsidiary of defense industry giant Northrop Grumman.

Those familiar with the program say Stansell's job was to operate equipment for the aerial mapping of drug crops, mainly coca plants used to make cocaine, to measure the effectiveness of U.S. eradication efforts.

His parents say Keith's work was no secret.

"We knew what Keith was doing," said his father. "He was looking after the aircraft and the electrical systems that were on it."

But there were plenty of risks. Much of Colombia's coca is grown in remote, rebel-controlled areas. The surveillance program also was being conducted using the single-engined Cessna Caravan, which some experts consider ill-suited for the high-altitude conditions in Colombia.

Those two factors combined tragically the day Stansell's plane went down. Recovery teams quickly discovered all five men on the plane survived the crash, but the bodies of pilot Tom Janis and a Colombian escort were found near the wreckage. Both had bullet wounds. One man was shot in the head, officials said.

Stansell and the other passengers, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, were taken hostage.

Last summer, FARC invited a Colombian journalist to photograph and videotape the hostages. The 21/2-hour video, which includes emotional messages from the men, shows them all in apparently good health.

"To our country, we miss you and we hope we return one day. We're alive and well," Stansell told the camera.

There was also a private message for his family. "To my dad, I hope you're still alive," Keith said, referring to Gene Stansell's battle with high blood pressure.

He told his fiancee in Georgia, Malia Phillips, and his two children, Lauren, 15, and Kyle, 11, how much he loved them: "If I come home, that's great. If not, keep living. Everything will be all right. Keep your chin up. Keep going."

The Stansells displayed remarkable composure during a lengthy afternoon interview at their home in a quiet gated community off Interstate 75. Photos of their son - with his jutting, square jaw, his flattop haircut and his Tom Cruise smile - adorn their refrigerator. One well-wisher sent a picture of the American flag with Keith's photo superimposed.

As much as they can, the Stansells try not to let their son's uncertain fate disrupt their daily routine. Other families have had a harder time.

"I spend my days and nights thinking and crying for my son," said Gonsalves' mother, Jo Rosano. "Christmas Day for me was pure torture. I feel guilty of the things I have which he can't enjoy."

The Stansells mostly worry about the children. Lauren, who lives with Keith's fiancee in Colquit, Ga., is seeing a counselor. Kyle doesn't understand why no one knows when his dad is coming home.

"It's been pretty tough, but we are hanging in there," Malia Phillips, 31, said in a phone interview. "We are taking it one day at a time. That's all we can do."

The video of the hostages was shown to the Stansells by the Tampa FBI office in late September, shortly before it was broadcast on CBS. They were encouraged by their son's physical and mental state, but not surprised.

An avid outdoorsman and hunter, the former Marine loved to go off for two weeks at a time to hunt deer in the woods around Savannah. He kept his fridge stocked with venison, which he cooked for guests.

The video also sheds new light on the details of the Americans' capture.

On camera, Stansell said the single engine on their Cessna Caravan failed at about 13,000 feet, forcing them to land on a mountainside clearing.

"We essentially crashed right in the middle of a big group of FARC," Stansell said. "We had no chance to escape."

All five men survived the impact with cuts and bruises and some broken ribs, he said. He described last seeing Janis, the pilot, and the Colombian moments after the crash, marching with their hands up.

On the tape, senior FARC commander Jorge Briceno said the rebels were not looking for a cash ransom, their normal demand for civilian hostages. Instead, he said the three Americans will only be exchanged for rebels being held by the Colombian government.

The three men strongly urged against a military-style rescue attempt.

"We are in the world of the FARC. We are not in our world," Stansell said. "There are people around us at all times. . . . When you get there, we're going to be dead."

That is what happened in May when the Colombian military mounted a botched operation that resulted in the death of 10 hostages. During the surprise attack launched from helicopters, the rebels executed the hostages before fleeing.

So the three Americans and their families have put their hopes in a negotiated, diplomatic solution. Right now, that seems far off.

The Stansells are frustrated by U.S. officials who have assured them in private "everything possible is being done" to free their son. They say that is not the case, citing repeated comments by U.S. officials that Washington does not negotiate with terrorists.

In remarks in February after learning of the crash, President Bush described the rebels as "cold-blooded killers that need to be treated as cold-blooded killers."

If the government won't negotiate, "what does "doing everything possible' consist of?" asked Gene Stansell.

He said that on the tape his son was visibly shocked when told the U.S. government was refusing to negotiate for their release.

The hostages also revealed they had been deprived of news, including the invasion of Iraq, which began a month after their capture.

Stansell broke down when he learned of the March 25 death of one of his best friends, Ralph Ponticelli, and two co-workers. They were killed when their plane, also a single-engine Cessna, crashed into a Colombian mountain while conducting a nighttime search flight looking for the hostages.

Experts say there may be little the Bush administration can do to bring about the release of the Americans. In theory, the government is responsible for the safety of Americans abroad. But by the nature of their work, private military contractors must assume the risks of working in dangerous places, such as Colombia.

"That leads to sticky situations like this," said Gabriel Marcella, a Colombia expert at the U.S. Army War College.

Washington has offered a $5-million bounty for information leading to the capture of the guerrilla commanders responsible for holding the three and killing the pilot. Echoing Washington's line, Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe, has refused to negotiate prisoner swaps with the rebels.

There are other private channels that can be explored. Most large companies with overseas contracts, such as Northrop Grumman, pay large sums to insure their employees against the risk of kidnapping. Coverage includes expert hostage negotiation teams who often handle direct contact with the rebels.

For the moment, the Stansells say they feel as though their lives are in limbo, waiting for news of Keith. Both amateur artists, they spend their time painting, between writing letters to follow up his case with government officials and members of Congress.

Lynne Stansell keeps detailed files of the bulging correspondence. They have received several official expressions of sympathy and assurances the case is being given the highest attention.

"Please be assured that nothing we do at this mission has a higher priority than the well-being and safe release of Keith, Tom and Marc," the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, William Wood, wrote in a letter dated Nov. 10.

The ambassador said Washington has urged the Colombian government not to attempt a rescue.

Phillips also writes letters and has received the support of her congressman in Georgia. She is in touch often with Northrop Grumman, which continues to pay Stansell's salary and benefits for his children.

But many questions remain. After the crash, California Microwave quietly transferred its Colombian operations to a new company, CIAO. The Stansells find that decision doubly insensitive. It seemed as though the company was passing the buck. Also, the first three letters of the name - c, i, a - could be misinterpreted by the FARC, who have accused the hostages of being government agents.

They also want to know why California Microwave continued to fly single-engine Cessnas in Colombia, despite warnings by their pilots of engine stress.

No one could be reached to answer questions at Northrop Grumman or U.S. Southern Command in Miami, which runs the Colombia program.

Official tests on the engine of the Cessna in which Stansell flew found its turbine blades were cracked and misshapen, according to a detailed report in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. This relatively rare phenomenon was caused by an engine running too fast or overheating in the thin air of the Colombian Andes, aviation experts told the newspaper.

The Stansells say California Microwave never told them of those findings. "They never even told us the engine was recovered," Gene Stansell said.

The drug surveillance program is back up and running, but it has switched to twin-engine planes.

The Stansells say their son had expressed reservations about the safety of his mission. He was planning to quit after his contract ran out in March.

- David Adams can be reached at dadams@sptimes.com

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