FOX 21/27 – WFXR Roanoke/WWCW Lynchburg News, WeatherBedford man's daughter rescued from Somali pirates

Bedford man's daughter rescued from Somali pirates

"My initial reaction was, I wonder if we're ever going to get her back. I really wondered if they were going to pull it off," says Edward Tommey, who claims to be a friend of John Buchanan; Jessica Buchanan's dad.

Toomey shows the work shop where Jessica Buchanan's father john Buchanan works in Bedford. He says in the two years that he has known Buchanan, he meet Jessica several times when visited.

"She is a sweetheart, they're all nice, the whole family is nice," says Tommey.

Toomey says the news of her kidnapping back in October was a shock to those who knew her, and took a toll on Buchanan.

"You could tell it was always on his mind, of course it was, and it's his daughter. You don't know what to say, you can't do anything, you can't help him. It was rough," says Tommey.

The kidnapping however wasn't the talk of the town. In fact, Toomey says they weren't allowed to talk about any of the news they heard.

"We kept it to ourselves. The FBI and the CIA asked us not to let anybody know about it, so we kept our mouths shut. One of the few times in our lives that we did," says Tommey.

On Sunday, Toomey hoped good news was finally on the way.

"When he left here he told me he was going to Washington. So I suspect he didn't know what was going on when they called him up there," says Tommey.

And when he saw this picture of Jessica, he couldn't wait to tell someone.

"When I saw her face I wanted to make sure it was her before I called anybody. I waited for her face to come up again and, I cried, I cried," says Tommey.

Tommey says he hasn't talked to Buchanan since he left, and does not know when he will return to Bedford.