Family of U.S. Hostage Holding Out Hope

M A N I L A, Philippines, June 13 -- Yellow ribbons flutter on the trees near Guillermo Sobero's California home, but his youngest children do not know that their dad, whom they haven't seen for more than two weeks, could be dead.

There is a chance that Sobero has been beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf, a rebel group based in the southern Philippines, but no one knows for sure.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf told a local radio station they had beheaded Sobero, 40, but Philippine officials say there is no evidence Sobero had been killed.

Three bodies have been found on the southern Philippines island where the rebels are believed to be hiding, but none of them belong to Sobero, Philippines officials say.

But back in Cathedral City, Calif., only the eldest of Sobero's four children knows her father could be dead or be in serious danger. In an interview with ABCNEWS' Good Morning America, Aimee Sobero, 13, said her three younger brothers had been told their father was away at work. "They don't know anything yet," she said. "We haven't told them anything."

Sobero is one of three Americans kidnapped last month by the group, which is said by the U.S. government to be the smallest and most radical of Islamic separatist groups in the Philippines. They are also holding dozens of Filipino hostages.

Related Stories

10-month-old baby has been found: Officials

• May 6, 7:21 PM

Vehicle crashes into White House gate, killing 1

• May 5, 2:53 AM

Man kills wife, 3 kids in mass shooting: Police

• Apr 23, 12:35 PM

Only Hope

Although the Abu Sayyaf has killed some of its Filipino captives in the past, the rebels have never killed a foreigner, despite many threats to do so.

One of the three bodies found on Basilan Island, a thickly forested island 560 miles south of the capital Manila, is believed to be that of a volunteer negotiator who tried to contact the group. Another is believed to be the body of a Muslim cleric. The third is unknown.

For Sobero's anxious family in California, news that the three bodies were not American was good news.

"I heard from the State Department last night, and they said they have not positively identified the bodies," Sobero's brother Alberto told Good Morning America, "We're still hanging onto that hope, that's all we have left now, just hope."