Los Angeles June 6, 2005
Actor,
Taktarov, English businessman, Mike Edson, South African
For
more information contact: Sherri
Spillane
Group
Fails To Return From Namibia - KABC
led with this - Newsone
- any word about video?
LOS
ANGELES Los Angeles colleagues expressed concern Tuesday for a group that
failed to return from a camping trip in Namibia in southwest Africa while making
a documentary on witchcraft.
Los
Angeles publicist Sherri Spillane
identified the missing as Los Angeles pilot Christopher Banninger; British-born
businessman Mike Edson;
Russian actor Oleg Taktarov; South African athlete K.J. Lodge; and a sex
therapist and radio host who goes by the name of Natasha
Terry.
The
five were brought by helicopter to a camping area on Friday and were supposed to
be picked up the following day, said Spillane,
ex-wife of crime writer Mickey Spillane.
Due
to a "mis-communication," the helicopter pilot did not arrive until
Sunday, she said.
When
the pilot did show up, he "found a note in a bag saying (the campers) were
headed west toward the coast," presumably on foot, Spillane
said.
The
pilot described the region as "the hottest area they could possibly go to,"
she said.
It's
wintertime
in Namibia, a hot, arid country with large tracts of desert. Conditions are warm
during the day and cold at night.
Dana
Cyccone,
secretary to Edson,
said the film crew had camped in a remote area near the Namibia-Angola border.
She said she notified the U.S. embassy in Windhoek
-- the capital of Namibia -- that the group had failed to return from the trip.
Two
embassy officials contacted this morning by City News Service -- press spokesman
Stan Harsha
and vice consul Aaron Daviet
-- said they had received no reports from family members that anyone was missing
in Namibia.
"We've
had no inquiries from the family, but the family is welcome to contact us,"
Harsha
said.
Cyccone
said she later got in touch with Daviet,
who sent her the names of three air charter companies in Namibia, which possibly
could be used in the search.
Spillane
said the witchcraft documentary project "had been going haywire" when
the crew decided to go camping. At one point, the crew had been chased out of a
village, she said.
"They
were filming a tribe in one of the small areas there, and apparently one of the
participants got very upset that they were there," Spillane
said. Villagers chased out the crew, "cursing them," she said.
Spillane
said the crew subsequently experienced a number of difficulties, including car
trouble and getting stuck in an elevator at their hotel.
"Everybody
had started to freak out," said Spillane,
who represents people who gained prominence on reality TV shows.
"I
don't know if they believe they were cursed, or so stressed out that they
couldn't stay there any longer," she said.
Edson
is producing the documentary, said Cyccone.
Also involved in the project are the pilot, Banninger, and the therapist, Natasha
Terry, who also uses the name Janina
Valdez,
said Cyccone.
Another
person associated with the documentary, identified as a producer named Charlie
Solomon, apparently did not go on the camping trip, according to Cyccone.
Solomon has returned to Los Angeles, she said.
The
group was filming in Namibia. They were flown by helicopter to the northwest
area of Namibia. The pilot was waiting for them in a small village called Opuwo.
The
helicopter pilot, Steve Groves, who found the first tape, also found a second
tape, which we have not yet seen. The company producing the documentary is Pilot/Cromthorn
Productions
The
initial story appeared on KNBC-TV News Monday evening. Portions of the tape were
played last night on ABC News & this morning on "Good Morning America".
If it would help, we could make that footage available to you. It's quite
disturbing. Oleg
was not on the tape we received.
Again,
thanks for your help.
Sherri
Spillane