‘Know He’s Not Dead--Yet’ : Letters Relieve Relatives--Some Press for Talks

Letters signed by four Americans held in Lebanon reassured their relatives today that they had not been killed as threatened the day before, and prompted some to say they hoped the U.S. government would talk with the kidnappers.

“Dialogue and talk to the captors is necessary,” said Mae Mihelich, sister of the Rev. Lawrence Jenco, a kidnaped Roman Catholic priest. “We need our government to talk to someone there in Beirut. If they have, we don’t know.”

The package of letters was delivered one day after anonymous telephone callers in Beirut claimed the hostages had been shot.

“The frustration yesterday being that they said they killed ‘em and today, knowing that the letters are dated today, that they are still alive, I think it’s another plea from the captors and that our government should take heed,” said Mihelich, of Joliet, Ill.

“At least we know he’s not dead--yet,” she added.

“I’m being cautiously optimistic that the captors themselves are becoming weary of holding these captives,” said John Jenco, 52, also of Joliet. “They’re hostages just as our brothers are hostages. They have to babysit with them.”

“The letters are certainly very good news, knowing the hostages are alive,” said Peggy Say, sister of hostage Terry Anderson.

“Obviously they (the captors) want to negotiate. As they say in the letter, the captors themselves want a peaceful resolution,” Say said.

“The Administration has made promises to the families which seem empty in view of the fact that the hostages are not home,” Say said from her home in Batavia, N.Y. “If they (U.S. officials) mean what they say, they will begin to talk to captors. Now is the perfect opportunity to give truth to those words.”

“I think the thing we’ve been pushing for all this time is negotiation, talk and action ... They (the hostages) want it. We (their families) want it,” said Jean Sutherland, wife of hostage Thomas Sutherland.