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American hostage's wife gives up hope

The wife of an American hostage missing in Jammu and Kashmir since 1995 has said that she is 'left with no option but to assume her husband dead'.

Jane Schelley, wife of Donald Hutchings, the American hostage missing along with two Britons and a German had kept her hopes alive all these years.

In a letter to the people of J&K, Jane has said, "Like many families in J&K who have gone missing, I have no clue to this sad situation, only the assumption that my husband and three other tourists were likely killed."

She adds, "I have spoken to a few people who had contact with my husband and I appreciate the kindness that anyone might have given him during his captivity."

"I am hoping that after more than five years, someone might anonymously come forward with information, which may or may not exist. Perhaps, enough time has passed to make this possible," she said.

Schelley said that she will miss her husband on his 48th birthday on November 12. "If I never see my husband, I would like to have something he wrote. That would be of some comfort to me if those pages he wrote exist then please send them to me," she said.

Schelley, a school teacher from Spokane, visited the valley several times in the last five years in search of her husband and the three other hostages.

The police had only last week exhumed a body from Dooru in south Kashmir and has sent the samples collected by the forensic experts for DNA tests to verify if it could be that of any of the hostages.

Police said two suspected militants arrested from near Kapran had told interrogators that one of the missing tourists was buried in the graveyard at Dooru.

Subsequently, the body was exhumed by forensic experts. Last year, police had exhumed a body from South Kashmir.

"We have not closed the case and the investigations are on," said the Senior Superintendent of Police (crime) Mohammad Amin Shah who is heading a special team to investigate the case. "The search will continue," he added.

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