Catholic couple killed by Somali pirates

Scott and Jean Adam

A retired American couple killed by Somali pirates on Tuesday along with two friends, were very committed Catholics, their parish priest has said. Scott and Jean Adam, from Santa Monica, California, decided to spend their retirement bringing Bibles to "far-flung corners of the earth," their parish priest Msgr Lloyd Torgerson said in an interview.

The couple set out on their voyage in 2004 in their 58-foot sloop, the Quest. They had been sailing with the Blue Water Rally cruise fleet, from Australia to the Mediterranean when their yacht became separated from the other boats on 22 February, and they were hijacked by a large group of Somali pirates, off the coast of Oman. The pirates captured the Adams with their friends Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle.

Four US naval warships were tailing the captured vessel and officials were engaged in negotiations with two of the pirates on board one of the American naval ships on the morning of February 22. But those talks were cut short by the sound of gunfire coming from the Quest. When Navy forces boarded and captured the vessel they found all four Americans had been wounded fatally.

Fr Torgerson said the deaths of the couple were a great loss. He told CNA: "They were faith-filled people, people of the Scripture, people of the Eucharist. They were great people of our community."

He said: "I believe with all my heart they are with God today."