ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990                   TAG: 9006120203
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DEADLINE FOR RANSOM OF ENGINEER PASSES

A ransom deadline set by leftist guerrillas in Ecuador threatening to kill their American hostage passed Monday, and the man's employer was said to have gone into the jungle to meet with the kidnappers.

Friends and family of kidnapped engineer Scott Heimdal, 27, of Peoria, Ill., have collected the $60,000 the guerrillas are demanding, but it was not immediately known if the payment would be made.

Jeffrey Fino, local manager of the Iminco mining company, flew to an airstrip near the San Miguel River, company sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The sources did not confirm that Fino was carrying the $60,000.

Heimdal's family in Peoria collected the money from friends and well-wishers, and the cash was transferred to a Quito bank over the weekend.

- Associated Press 


 by CNB