Saturday, October 13, 2012

New information on local missing priest

An Indiana priest is still missing somewhere in Greece. 

After sitting down with federal agents for most of the day, the family of Father Christiaan Kappes says they now know that he was last seen leaving the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

Father Kappes studied in Greece on behalf of the Vatican for three years, but last weekend he began calling his family, saying his life was in danger.

He reportedly told his family that his friend and interpretor had been threatened by her family over her inheritance and he was trying to ensure her safety.

FBI agents have been meeting with the family throughout the day and developed a time-line for Monday October 1st, the last day the two were seen.
 
Around 9 a.m. that day, they went to a local police station and then around 3p.m. a priest drove them to the airport where they were supposed to fly to Indianapolis.

However, at 4:30 that afternoon, they visited the Embassy, where Father Kappes reported asked about immigration papers for his translator, he called his father and said he feared for his life and then left the embassy.

The family told Fox59 that they believe Father Kappes left the airport because his translator wasn't allowed to fly and that he left the embassy because they would not offer both he and his translator safe haven.


Embassy officials haven't commented on that, but they do say that Kappes never specifically requested safe haven for himself.