photo Courtesy WNDU
BENI, Congo (AP) — Congolese authorities say the bodies of an American Michael Sharp and a Swedish U.N. expert and their interpreter have been found in the Central Kasai region where they recently disappeared.
Police inspector general Charles Bisengimana said Tuesday the bodies of the two U.N. experts were identified after being found Monday.
Sharp is the son of Hesston Kansas College Bible faculty members John and Michele Sharp.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende says tests confirm the bodies are the experts and their local interpreter.
Sharp, Zaida Catalan of Sweden and interpreter Betu Tshintela disappeared March 12 with their drivers while looking into alleged human rights violations by the army and local militia groups.
————–
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo’s government says the bodies of two Caucasians and a Congolese have been found in the Central Kasai region where two U.N. experts and their colleagues recently disappeared.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende told Top Congo FM on Tuesday that national police confirmed the discovery of the male and female Caucasians and one Congolese.
The finding raises fears about the two U.N. experts and four Congolese who went missing two weeks ago.
Mende says the government knows no other foreigners missing in the region, but the provincial commissioner still must identify the bodies.
Michael Sharp, the son of Hesston Kansas College Bible faculty members John and Michele Sharp, according to the school’s social media page is among 7 who went missing March 12.
In addition to Sharp, Zaida Catalan of Sweden, interpreter Betu Tshintela, driver Isaac Kabuayi and two motorbike drivers were looking into alleged human rights violations by the army and local militia groups.