‘Just Praise God!’ Former Hostage Says of Release

“Just praise God! They are coming home and free,” Neta Slotowski said Sunday of the news that the 39 TWA hijack hostages--with whom she had been held--were headed home after more than two weeks in captivity.

Slotowski, 67, who was on the jetliner when it was hijacked June 14, was freed on the hijacked plane’s first stop in Beirut. She commented between Masses at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, where four of the remaining 39 hostages are parishioners.

Algonquin, a community of almost 6,000 about 50 miles west of Chicago, was draped in yellow ribbons from almost every utility pole to the church’s steeple. Stores displayed signs saying, “Bring Them Home” and “Free My People.”

After hearing that a Red Cross convoy carrying the 39 Americans was bound for Syria, Slotowski said: “That’s wonderful. I’m ecstatic. They are truly my brothers.”

Relatives of some of the 10 hostages from Illinois were flying to Frankfurt to be reunited with their husbands, fathers and sons.

Father William McDonnell, pastor of St. Margaret Mary and a former hostage, joined three of the relatives before their departure for O’Hare International Airport and said: “The news brought a lot of joy and elation to our hearts.”