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Released hostage tells of being held by Kurdish rebelsDALLAS (AP) — Three kidnapped Americans and two other hostages were kept on the move constantly in rugged mountains of eastern Turkey for the 22 days they were held by Kurdish rebels, a Texan told his wife Saturday.Marvin Wilson, 49, of Garland called his wife, Re-nctta, at 6:30 a.m. CDT Saturday from the city of Bingol in the Turkish province of the same name. She tried to calculate what time it was in Turkey.“It was ... oh, eight hours beyond that in Bingol. I’m so excited, I can’t add,” Mrs. Wilson said Saturday.Wilson and two other Americans — Ronald Wyatt of Nashville, Tcnn., and Richard M. Rives of North Carolina — were in Turkey to search Mount Ararat for what they believed was the site of Noah’s Ark when they were kidnapped Aug. 30.Gunmen from the Kurdish Labor Party, or PKK, reportedly stopped a minibus carrying the three Americans on Aug. 30 in Bingol province. Two others, Allen Roberts of Australia and Gareth Thomas of Great Britain were on the same bus and also were taken hostage.Two soldiers hunting for the captives were killed in a guerrilla ambush on Sept 3.Mrs. Wilson first learned that her husband had been released when he called her about 5:15 p.m. CDT Friday (1:15 a.m. Saturday in Turkey) from Bingol to let her know he had been released and that he and the others were in good condition.“We talked about a minute. He said he had to go and he would be calling me later. He just assured me that he and the others were in good shape,” she said.Hurriyet, a major Turkish daily newspaper, said security forces, acting on a tip, rescued the five. Authorities were searching for the kidnappers, the newspaper said.But Thomas said Saturday that the five former hostages were released by their abductors, who gave them directions on where to find authorities. He said they were released near the city of Bingol and walked about 90 minutes before reaching a military police station at Ilicalar.The semi-official Anatolia news agency had reported Friday that a man claiming to speak for the outlawed Kurdish Labor Party telephoned police in the townshipof Malazgirt in neighboring Mus province, and said the captives would be released. The party has been fighting since 1984 for an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.After word got out that her husband had called her with news of the release, her phone rang constantly, Mrs. Wilson said.Each lime, she thought it might be her husband again, , she said. Instead, it was friends or relatives calling to share in the joy. Finally, early Saturday, her husband’s voice was on the other end of the line.“I knew the call was coming, I just didn’t know when.I could handle that as long as I knew he was free,” she said. They talked for about 10 minutes, she said.“He just reassured me that he is in good shape. He said everyone else was fine also, including the two who were not in their group but just happened to be with them at the time they were taken,” she said.“He said they were on fool the entire 22 days and that they were treated well. They were on the move constantly,” she said.IAP laserphotoWilson, center, other former hostages talk to reporters in police station in Bingol, Turkey
Newspaper Details
Orange Leader
Orange, Texas, US
Sun, Sep 22, 1991
Page 15
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 28 May 2025
Other Publications Near Orange, Texas
Orange Leader and Citizen Record Consolidated
Orange Leader
