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American Nun Found Alive 5 Months After Being Kidnapped From Her Bed in Africa

The 83-year-old nun, Suellen Tennyson, was kidnapped from a mission site in Burkina Faso.

A Roman Catholic nun who was kidnapped from her bed at a mission site in west Africa has been found safe, five months after her capture. Sister Suellen Tennyson, 83, of Louisiana, is alive and in U.S. custody in Niamey, the capital of Niger, according to the Marianites of Holy Cross members. She was found on Monday, officials said, but details on where she had been and how she was found were not released. “She’s totally worn out,” Sister Ann Lacour told the Clarion Herald. “I told her how much people love her, and she doesn’t have anything to worry about. I told her, ‘You are alive and safe. That’s all that matters.’” Tennyson was snatched by “at least 10 armed men” in Burkina Faso for unclear reason, taken away in the middle of the night between April 4 and 5. There had been no contact with her since, the Marianites of Holy Cross members said, leaving her sisters in the dark about whether she was alive. Tennyson was still in Africa as of Tuesday, but will eventually return to the United States.