Abducted mining executive John Ridsdel was reported to be the person killed by terrorists in the Philippines after a ransom deadline had passed, according to
CBC News. He had been beheaded.
Ridsdel, 68, was semi-retired and had worked as the chief operating officer of the mining company TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc., a subsidiary of TVI Pacific, based in Canada. Risdel and fellow Canadian Robert Hall were kidnapped with two others by the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf last September, said CBC News.
Junpikar Sitin, police chief superintendent of Jolo, an island in the southwest Philippines, said that evidence of Ridsdel's beheading was found in a street in a town in Sulu province, reported CBC News.
Ridsdel had worked as a reporter for The Calgary Herald and CBC News before joining TVI Pacific, according to
CNN.
"Our family is devastated at the loss of our father and brother John Ridsdel whose life was cut tragically short by this senseless act of violence despite us doing everything within our power to bring him home," the family said in a statement, according to
CTV News.
"John was a kind and gregarious person who touched everyone he knew with his enthusiasm and generosity. He loved life and lived it to the fullest with his family and friends at the center," the statement continued.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement Monday that he was "outraged" by Ridsdel's death, calling it "an act of cold-blooded murder."
The militants released a video on April 15 of Ridsdel and Hall asking the Canadian government to pay their ransom, reported CTV News. The militants demanded $8 million, or $6.3 million U.S dollars.
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