1998 kidnapping of Mormon missionaries in Saratov, Russia

[10] The kidnappers demanded $300,000 and photocopies of the missionaries' passports[11] in return for the safe release of Propst and Tuttle, and threatened to kill them if police were notified.

[12] When the captors did not call to arrange a meeting as promised in the ransom note, church officials thought that the media coverage had prompted them to kill the missionaries.

[13] Propst and Tuttle were taken to a shed 45 minutes outside of Saratov, Russia, and handcuffed to a coal-fueled radiator so tightly that both suffered nerve damage.

[14] While in captivity, the two "played word games, practiced Russian grammar and devised a dream team of professional baseball players.

"[15] They conversed frequently with the younger man who had kidnapped them, with topics ranging from sports to politics to religion; Propst hoped that forging a friendship might later prevent their captor from being able to kill them.

Representative Merrill Cook of Utah told the Provo Daily Herald that he encouraged "aggressive American involvement in getting these boys back safely.

"[21] The U.S. Department of State called the situation "a grave matter" and did not release details of the kidnapping at the time in order to protect the missionaries.

[3] At a briefing, State Department spokesman James B. Foley said that the kidnapping was an "isolated incident," and that U.S. foreign policy with Russia in no way provoked the kidnappers.

[19] Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Senator Gordon Smith after the release of the missionaries that the culprits set them free because "the noose was tightening.

It featured Corbin Allred as Tuttle, Maclain Nelson as Propst, and Nikita Bogolyubov and Alex Veadov as the kidnappers.

[32] On March 24, 1998,[4] local police found the woman who called in the ransom demand, as well as a 45-year-old man who assisted in the kidnapping; both confessed to being behind the abduction[33] and were arrested.