Woman kidnapped by Colombian rebels e-mails family
Sunday January 26, 2003SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Three Americans captured by Colombian rebels were forced to march for hours, but otherwise were treated well during their 10 days of captivity, one of the trio has told friends and family.
Megan Smaker, 22, called her family Friday and told them of the conditions during her captivity, said family friend Kristin Tooker.
Smaker, of Brentwood, Calif., and her two colleagues were released Thursday and debriefed Saturday at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.
The former captive provided more details of the ordeal in an email to friends and family.
``I am back from the Gap alive and well, minus a black eye and some nasty insect bites,'' Smaker wrote. The ``Gap'' apparently refers to the Darien Gap, a jungle on the Colombian border with Panama.
The black eye came when Smaker was accidentally hit in the face by the butt of an AK-47, said Tooker, who has been staying with Smaker's family.
Smaker, a seasonal firefighter with the state of California, left in November to visit Central America and sent lengthy e-mails to her friends and family detailing her adventures until she was caught in an ambush.
Tooker said Smaker was still unsure when she would return to the United States.
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