A Hostage's Ordeal Is Over

It appears I was overly cynical. Bernd was kidnapped. He was rescued by German police this morning. I would like to be able to tell you that this happened as the result of a daring raid by Landespolizei commandos, followed by a tearful meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the receipt of an empathetic note or phone call from Ingrid Betancourt.

But alas, nothing so dramatic. He was found by kids in an unused industrial park. And his retrieval by police was rather, um, prosaic: