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BY ELIZABETH HOLMES
eholmes@nwitimes.com
219.462.5151 | Saturday, April 08, 2006 | (No comments posted.)
LAPORTE | In a year when most businesses surrendered their messages of support for Iraq hostage Jeffrey Ake, one fast-food joint here has remained steadfast.
Underneath the "Open 6 a.m." and above the weekly specials, Arby's restaurant officials have kept "Pray for Jeff Ake" since he was abducted on April 11, 2005.
"He hasn't been rescued or anything, so we're keeping it up till we hear," Manager Nancy Ritchie said. "We're just hoping nobody forgets."
As the anniversary of Ake's disappearance approaches, that public display of support -- despite any news of his whereabouts -- is rare. Residents of LaPorte have had questions since the beginning, but haven't gotten answers.
The 47-year-old father of four hasn't been seen since he appeared disheveled on a video two days after his disappearance. The family's pleas for silence have added to the mystique -- and the waning public support.
From the get-go, LaPorte residents wanted to be there for Ake and his family. After his abduction, from a water treatment plant outside of Baghdad, the city of 21,000 residents was blanketed with ribbons. Someone even designed an official "Come home safe, Jeff" sign for mass production.
Yet last week, only a handful of markers remained. The official sign for Ake, once in every window downtown, now hangs only in City Hall. Yellow ribbons supporting the troops dot the light posts around town where American flags once flew.
Mayor Leigh Morris, who has been in communication with the Ake family, said people want to be supportive but don't know how.
"There's a sense of frustration that there's not a doggone thing we can do," he said.
Friends of the Ake family have been asked to remain quiet, yet some find that silence to be distancing.
"It kind of makes you wonder," LaPorte resident Carol Padgett said. "There's got to be more to the story and they're just not releasing it to the public."
"You just don't hear about it anymore," added her husband, Gary.
Although visible support is at a minimum, several LaPorte residents alluded to an internal resolve. Morris said the City Council says a prayer for Ake and his family before the start of each meeting.
"LaPorte still is in about the same mode that it's been from the very beginning and that is one of prayerful concern about Jeff and his whole family," Morris said.
Betty Hull, 84, said she sees Ake's wife, Liliana, and their children at church most Sundays.
"She's holding up as much as she can," Hull said. "She's always in our prayers."
Outside the Ake's red-brick ranch home on Pine Lake, once-vibrant patriotic ribbons have faded to tattered blue-and-white shreds. The Ake kids are still in school, said Fred Johanes, a 66-year-old who lives two doors down. He said he's seen Ake's wife with her mother from Russia who has come to help out.
Johanes, like others, found a glimpse of hope in the recent rash of hostage releases, including journalist Jill Carroll and three Christian missionaries.
"Everybody else has been released," he said. "Maybe he's next."
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