Here's a news story from the AP, on an American citizen kidnapped and possibly killed in Honduras. This is almost certainly the fellow who used to own Serenity in Placencia. It sure sounds like him, a retired cop from Connecticut, though I don't think he ever owned a casino, and I was told he had moved to Honduras. If so, I'm very sorry about this turn of events, which sadly is so typical of Honduras these days.

--Lan Sluder
Belize First magazine http://www.belizefirst.com/

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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - A retired American police officer was kidnapped and possibly killed in northern Honduras, a U.S. Embassy official said Monday.

Thomas Franklin Giblin, 64, was pulled from his unfinished, beach-front home outside Puerto Cortes on the Caribbean coast Saturday night, said embassy spokesman Carols Bakota.

Giblin's Honduran girlfriend, 24-year-old Leticia Lopez, was also briefly kidnapped, but escaped. She later told authorities that four men with machine guns were holding Giblin and demanding a $50,000 ransom.

But Bakota said police have recovered ``a significant amount of evidence'' suggesting that Giblin's kidnappers probably killed him just moments after his abduction.

A former officer with the Connecticut State Police, Giblin had lived in Belize for the last 12 years and owned a casino and several large homes there. He moved to Honduras in February.

Bakota said police in the city of San Pedro Sula, about an hour by car from Puerto Cortes, were planning to arrest four men late Monday night on charges they kidnapped and killed Giblin.

``We have notified family members that this is a homicide, not a kidnapping,'' Bakota said.

Police were also questioning Lopez.

Last month, William Patrick Donahue, a 49-year-old Miami native, was fatally shot on a Honduran highway.

Bakota said that attack brought to 13 the number of Americans killed in unsolved cases in Honduras since 1997.

``We are pleased that these arrests are being made so quickly in what would have been case number 14,'' he said. ``But the embassy has been putting a lot of pressure on Honduran authorities and that probably had a lot to do with it.''

I have confirmed that this is the Tom Giblin who ran Serenity Resort in Placencia for many years. Reports are that Tom was killed in the kidnapping, although to my knowledge that hasn't yet been independently confirmed. His son is now in San Pedro Sula. Tom was a very nice fellow, and I'm very sorry to hear about this.

--Lan Sluder

According to press reports, five men have been detained by Honduran police in connection with the kidnapping and probable murder of Tom Giblin, 64, the former owner of Serenity Resort in Placencia. Giblin, a retired Bridgeport, Conn., police officer, had sold his interest in Serenity and had moved to Honduras earlier this year, where he was building a house on the beach at Puerto Cortes.

Police are quoted as saying four of the five men they are questioning were employees of Giblin. Police allege his girlfriend, 24, may also have been involved in the kidnapping, but she denies it.

Authorities say Giblin was kidnapped on Monday and probably killed, with his body thrown in a river.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Honduras called Honduras a "high risk" country where on average an American is killed every two months. About 12,000 American citizens are thought to live in Honduras.

--Lan Sluder
Belize First http://www.belizefirst.com/

I had heard about Serenity Resort in Placentia and had been told that the people who ran it were great. Sorry to hear about Mr Giblin.

Tom Giblin was a very nice guy. This is tragic news.

I am so sad to hear about Tom. I had read about it but didn't realize it was Tom from Serenity. I met Tom years ago and use to do business with him. I am so sorry to hear of this news. My condolensces to family and friends.

According to news reports, Tom's body has been recovered.

--Lan Sluder