June 21, 1962 - Three American missionaries kidnapped by the Viet Cong in South Vietnam have been seen alive but are still captives, the Christian and Missionary Alliance said today. The captives are the Rev. Archie E. Mitchell of Washington, Dr. Eleanor Ardel Vietti of Texas, and Daniel Gerber of Ohio. The three were at work at a leprosarium 14 miles southwest of Ban Me Thuot in Communist-dominated territory when Viet Cong guerrillas invaded the leper colony and carried them off May 30. A spokesman for the Alliance said today that the Rev. Robert M. Christman flew to Vietnam last Tuesday to see what had developed in the search for the missing trio. Jungle-trained Vietnamese Army units from Ban Me Thuot, about 200 miles north of Saigon, have been searching the rugged mountains and rain forest in an unsuccessful hunt for the three missionaries.
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