The family of a missionary pilot from Minnesota who went missing during a flight in Africa four years ago now believes he’s not dead, but was kidnapped — and is calling on the White House to help bring him home.
Jerry Krause and the Beechcraft 1900C he was flying disappeared without trace while en route from South Africa to Mali on April 7, 2013.
“It’s a routine flight he’s done multiple times,” his youngest daughter, Jessica Krause, told WCCO. “I thought, ‘Just give it some time and it’s all going to be OK.’ Now it’s been close to four-and-a-half years.”
With no body, plane debris, or black box, South African officials declared two months later that Krause died in a crash. But the South African Civil Aviation Authority has since removed its official report, and that’s because, the family believes, its found new evidence that the veteran pilot is alive, according to Yahoo7 news. The family said they are still trying to get their hands on the purported evidence, according to the report.
The family said the US government knows Krause’s whereabouts, but that the Department of Defense is not authorized to act on the information without presidential approval, the station reported.
Jessica wrote on the “Find Jerry” Facebook page that Krause, 58, was kidnapped after all contact was lost during his approach to São Tomé, a small island off the coast of Africa, where he had planned to refuel.
“No concrete evidence of Jerry or his airplane were located during the first two months of investigations. In other words, no wreckage or body ever turned up,” she wrote.
“Nevertheless, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (the governing authority over the aircraft incident) published their official report that Jerry Krause crashed and was dead.”
She said they learned during an email exchange with South African investigations chief Albert Phuti Morudi in April 2016 that the case was reopened and that Krause had been found alive.
Krause flew since 1989 as a missionary pilot in Africa, where he raised his three kids with his wife, Gina.
“I am asking that you contact the President’s or Vice President’s office and have the official authorization given to the Department of Defense to effectuate Jerry’s freedom and reunite him and his family,” she wrote.
The family hopes the public will put pressure on lawmakers to bring Krause back home.
“We’re ready. We’re tired. It’s just been a long time,” Jessica told WCCO.
