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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1990                   TAG: 9006130256
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PEORIA, ILL.                                LENGTH: Short

RANSOM MONEY WRONG CURRENCY, SAY KIDNAPPERS

Attempts to free an American miner kidnapped by South American guerrillas hit a snag when a go-between brought the ransom in U.S. dollars instead of Colombian pesos, the hostage's father said Tuesday.

"The guerrillas got upset because the ransom money came in U.S. dollars instead of pesos. When they tried to exchange it, they had trouble finding enough pesos," Roy Heimdal said. `

Heimdal said he and his wife, Marge, had believed the kidnappers wanted $60,000 in U.S. currency in exchange for the freedom of their 27-year-old son, Scott.

There were no reports Tuesday from Ecuador.

Scott Heimdal was abducted while working for the Iminco Gold Mining Co. in northern Ecuador near the Colombian border. His purported captors are the Popular Liberation Army (EPL).

by CNB