Four years after an Indiana businessman was kidnapped in Iraq, a family friend says the man’s wife still holds out hope that someday he might return safely home.
Jeffrey Ake was abducted April 11, 2005, from a water treatment plant near Baghdad. Days later, a video aired on an Al-Jazeera television station showing masked soldiers holding guns as Ake pleaded for his life.
Ake’s wife, Liliana Ake, was once a homemaker but she’s now the breadwinner for herself and the couple’s four children. She works for a LaPorte real estate company, has a new address and in the telephone registry only her name is listed.
But family friend Christina Daugherty said that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s given up on the hope that her husband might someday return.
“She’s faithful he’s coming back. That’s the impression she gives. Whether she really feels that way, I don’t know,” said Daugherty, a member of the LaPorte Rotary Club, to which the Akes also belonged.
At the time of his abduction, Ake was owner of Equipment Express, which manufactured machines that fill water bottles. The Rolling Prairie company has since been sold.
Wendy Osborne, an agent with the FBI office in Indianapolis, said Ake’s kidnapping is still an active case. But she said she could not be specific about any findings.
“We have no evidence to suggest that he’s not alive. We’re still hopeful of returning him to his loved ones,” Osborne said.
With Jeffrey Ake’s status still unknown, family members choose not to speak about the ordeal. Those close to the family said Liliana Ake continues to be very active in the community and that she’s doing her best to remain strong.
Former Laporte Mayor Leigh Morris says well-wishers can do Ake’s family some good by never forgetting, offering encouragement and continuing to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.
“I think (in) the absence of their strong faith this would become a more hopeless situation,” Morris said.
Information from: The Times, http://nwitimes.com
