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Sunday's Child - Nikolas
Exclusive: Odessa Man Among Those Freed in Algeria Standoff 1/21/13
Jennifer Samp
CBS 7 News
January 21, 2013
Odessa, TX - A hostage situation that caught the attention of the world is hitting close to home here in west Texas.
CBS 7 has learned from our CBS network investigative team that Bradley Lane McDaniel, who lives in Odessa, was a hostage during a terrorist attack in Algeria.
The CBS Network investigative team confirms, Al-Qaida linked militants captured ten people from Texas last Wednesday at a natural gas plant in Ain Amenas, Algeria.
McDaniel was one of seven Americans who were released. Three Americans are confirmed dead.
Frederick Buttacio of Katy was killed along with Victor Lovelady of Nederland.
Lovelady lived in the Houston area, but was born in Nederland. He had worked in Algeria only 10 days when the militants attacked.
McDaniel's LinkedIn account states he has been a drilling supervisor in Amenas, Algeria with BP from January 2008 to now.
BP released a statement saying there was a terrorist attack on the site and at the time, there were 18 BP employees involved.
14 employees are safe and secure and two have minor injuries.
Neighbors in Odessa tell CBS7 that McDaniel has two children a wife living in town.
According to the Prime Minister of Algeria, the four day crisis ended with 38 hostages and 29 of the militants dead.
Three of the attackers were captured and five foreign workers remain unaccounted for.
The U.S. State Department confirms that three Americans were killed.
We've reached out to McDaniel's family members, but as of this posting, they are not commenting.