Kidnapping Hits Home In Rural Oregon Town Fate Of Mormon Missionary On Minds Of Friends Back Home
The flag at Andrew Propst’s former high school hung at half staff Friday as the young Mormon missionary was held hostage for $300,000 ransom somewhere in Russia.
Students at Lebanon High School and others who knew the 1996 graduate tried to make sense of news that he and a missionary partner had been kidnapped.
“It hits really close to home, honestly,” said a somber Hallie Shafer, a junior. “This was ANDY. He was there on a mission for his church. Why would people be so cruel?”
Ed Cinquini, who teaches government and leadership, said: “Even kids who don’t know Andy are talking about it. They’re wondering why it would happen and why people behave this way.”
The news has shaken this town of 12,500, tucked in the grass-seed fields of Linn County, 90 minutes south of Portland.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of Lebanon’s 36 churches. But everyone who knows Andy Propst and his family seems to care about them. Propst, 20, the youngest of five children, left Lebanon in January 1997 for a two-year mission in Russia.
They recall a high-energy, crazy guy who always was in front of the crowd, literally and figuratively, creating excitement. An independent thinker who tested boundaries and did well in school.
A little stubborn, a little cocky - but always funny, with a positive, can-do attitude.
“He was never one to sit and watch the world go by without his making it more lively,” said Ruth Good, assistant principal.
Joe Flesher - Propst’s former classmate, poker buddy and co-worker at Lebanon Skate Center - shakes his head in disbelief. He remembers the many nights Propst won the entire $15 poker pot from him and friend Brock Ditterick, and he thinks that bodes well. “He’s able to read people pretty good,” Flesher said.
Flesher’s dad, Bill Flesher, hired Propst to work in his skating rink and the espresso kiosk next door. “Andy’s very resourceful,” mused Bill Flesher. “He’ll wait it out, talk it out.”
Friends talked of the red 1966 Mustang that Andy rebuilt with his dad from the ground up. They talk about his love of costumes and crazy hats, and the time he pulled out his guitar and played Beatles tunes in the cramped coffee kiosk.
They talk about the spiritual devotion that inspired him to attend Mormon seminary before school.
Cinquini remembers when the news spotlighted Lebanon a few years ago: Four outstanding Lebanon students died in two auto accidents during spring break.
“That was a real grieving process the kids went through then,” he said. “I don’t see grieving going on. I see worry and concern.” xxxx DEVELOPMENTS Andrew Lee Propst, 20, of Lebanon, Ore., and Travis Robert Tuttle, 20, of Gilbert, Ariz., working out of the Samara Russian Mission, disappeared Wednesday in the town of Saratov, about 450 miles southeast of Moscow. Gov. Dmitri Akyatskov of Russia’s Saratov region has promised to pay the $300,000 ransom, and said Saturday that the money “has been found.” But he also said that if the ransom is paid, he might expel the Mormon mission from his region, a British news agency reported.