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Kidnappers want $80 million Officials contacted Gold Hill men�s captors in S. America 2 weeks ago By Melissa Martin GOLD HILL � The guerrilla gunmen who captured three Gold Hill helicopter mechanics last month have demanded an $80 million ransom, a South American newspaper reported. A journalist working in the Amazon reported the ransom demand in a story published in El Comercio, the daily newspaper in Quito, said Arturo Torres, a spokesman for El Comercio. The story reported that officials made contact with the kidnappers about two weeks ago and determined that the Erickson Air-Crane employees are still alive. The FBI is investigating the kidnapping of Gold Hill residents Steve Derry, 40, Arnold Alford, 41, and Jason Weber, 29, all helicopter mechanics with Erickson Air-Crane, a Central Point company that builds and operates heavy-lift helicopters used for construction, firefighting and logging around the world. The mechanics were among 10 foreign workers taken at gunpoint Oct. 12 from an oil camp in Ecuador near the Colombian border. Two French pilots escaped to safety and were debriefed and interviewed by officials in Quito. Erickson Air-Crane�s chief operating officer, Lee Ramage, said in a letter that his company is working with government agencies in the United States and South America for the release of the Gold Hill men. "We care deeply for our employees and their families and are doing everything possible to ensure the safe and swift return of our employees," Ramage wrote. The U.S. Embassy in Quito confirmed that government agencies are working for the hostages� release, but he said his agency couldn�t give information that might hinder negotiations. "We don�t want them to be able to look at the cards we�re holding in our hands," said Scott Rauland, press attach� in the U.S. Embassy in Quito. The Quito newspaper�s report that kidnappers have demanded $80 million doesn�t have to be viewed negatively, said a vice president of another local helicopter corporation. "It�s encouraging," said Mark Lindamood, vice president for Carson Services Helicopter Logging Division in Jacksonville. "You�d really be worried if you didn�t hear anything." Some companies carry hostage or ransom insurance for their employees in other nations, but it�s not known if Erickson Air-Crane is one of those. An insurance policy may be the reason two French pilots managed to escape, Lindamood said. If the pilots were insured, the kidnappers may not have wanted to deal with them because insurance companies have been known to do whatever it takes to get their money back, he said. "If you�ve got insurance, you don�t have to worry because insurance companies will send their own people in to get their ransom money back and deal with the kidnappers," Lindamood said. Carson Services employs 230 people and dispatches helicopters and personnel for projects around the world. The company has 30 years� experience sending employees to Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and the Middle East and has never experienced a kidnapping. "We provide drivers, cars and bodyguards to assist our people in going shopping or other places. We have good communications systems and heavy-duty cars, something like a Suburban, but even sturdier," Lindamood said. "There are certain precautions you have to take in this nasty world we live in." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.