A 22-year-old seasonal firefighter, Megan Smaker, who works from
the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, South
Santa Clara Unit in Morgan Hill, was kidnapped in Panama while on
vacation Sunday. Smaker was touring with a group near the
Panamanian/ Columbian border when she and two men were taken by a
right wing paramilitary group.
A 22-year-old seasonal firefighter, Megan Smaker, who works from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, South Santa Clara Unit in Morgan Hill, was kidnapped in Panama while on vacation Sunday. Smaker was touring with a group near the Panamanian/ Columbian border when she and two men were taken by a right wing paramilitary group.
“We are concerned for her safety,” said Chris Morgan, firefighter prevention specialist with CDF. “We are really a small group and she’s part of the family.”
Robert Y. Pelton, a CNN journalist and Mark Wedeven, a Canadian, ran across 50-60 members of the United Self Defense Forces operating in the area while hiking with a guide. Both right wing and left wing military groups – separate from the official Panamanian military – operate in the area.
The guide, Victor Manuel Alcazar, was also taken by the group and was wounded but later escaped. He was interviewed by the newspaper La Prensa in the nearby border town of Boca de Cupe. Alcazar said that the paramilitaries split into two groups, one taking Smaker and the men hostage; the other asked him to guide them back to the town of Paya.
While Smaker works from the Morgan Hill station, she is from the Oakland area.
Pelton is from Southern California and was in the news in November 2001 when he interviewed ‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan. A long-time journalist who has covered many of the world’s hot spots, he is the author of a book, “The World’s Most Dangerous Places.” His wife Linda said Pelton was in Panama working on a story for National Geographic’s Adventure Magazine.
Wedeven is also a journalist.
Smaker, Morgan said, was due back to work in February for a rotation at the CDF fire station on Pacheco Pass. Morgan said Smaker, who is unmarried, has many miles of world travel under her belt.
“She is quite a world traveler,” he said. “She’s been to quite a few countries in the world, despite being only 22.”
“We were pretty shocked.”
The kidnappers said Wednesday that the three might be released soon.
“We are hoping for a rapid resolution,” Morgan said.
