Manhattan Beach Man Kidnapped in Somalia
Michael Scott Moore is well known in surfing circles
A well-known travel and surfing journalist was kidnapped last weekend in Somalia, just days before U.S. Navy Seal Team Six rescued an American relief worker, who was being held by a different band of Somali criminals.
Michael Scott Moore grew up in Manhattan Beach, although he currently resides in Germany and was in Somalia to research a book on Somali pirates.
"We are concerned about the individual's safety and well-being," said a spokeswoman for the State Department, who was asked about Moore during a news conference this week.
The spokeswoman said the State Department is working with contacts in Kenya and Somalia to gain further information.
Moore is the author of a novel about surfing called “Sweetness and Blood: How Surfing Spread from Hawaii and California to the Rest of the World.”
Reports from Somalia indicated that he was en route to the airport when he was captured by 15 men in two land cruisers in the Galmadug region of Somalia.
Moore, who is a graduate of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, had told the New York Times two years ago that he was as interested in writing about the Somali pirates as he was about writing a surf book.
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