Awkward Twist for Family of U.S. Hostage

ByABC News
June 13, 2001, 4:45 PM

June 13 -- 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 that Sobero was killed.

The fact that Fanny Sobero had no idea 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 are "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.