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The American pastor was abducted by armed men after storming his church service in South Africa, local authorities say.
Josh Sullivan has operated a service at the Baptist Church of the company in Madskel, a city in Gqberra in east Cape, on Thursday night, when “four armed and masked suspects in the men entered,” police spokesman Captain Andre Baitez told the BBC.
The men stole two phones before fleeing the church to the silver Toyota Fortuner of the 45-year-old pastor. Later, police found that the vehicle was abandoned, but there was no trace of Sulivan.
A spokesman for the US Department of State told the BBC that they are aware of the abduction of a US citizen in South Africa.
They said there was no “bigger priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad.”
CAPT BEETGE told the BBC that the case was handed over to the elite police zone of South Africa, known as Hawks, which investigates serious organized and commercial crimes and high -level corruption.
“Police are currently following all possible leaders to find the victim and detain the perpetrators,” said Hawks spokesman Lieutenant Avele Fumba.
Jeremy Hall, the spokesman of Sullivan’s family, told the local newspaper Timeslive that he was in the church with his wife and their children when the incident happened.
“They knew his name,” he said.
The mother of G -n Sullivan, Tonya Morton Rinker, wrote on Facebook that she was broken by the heart of the news.
She added: “Our Congressman and the US Embassy are working on finding it.”
No ransom was requested, according to private property NEWS24S
Sulivan describes himself as a “church missionary for planting” on his personal website.
He says that in 2018 he moved to South Africa with his wife and children to create a church for people who speak Xhosa.
In the last decade in South Africa, there is a 264% increase in abductions According to police statistics.
Just a few days ago, a Chinese citizen was abducted at Gqberra.