Father Christian Kappes
An Indiana priest who made international news after he was reported missing last week, has reached out to Fox59 news just a day after telling his family that his is alive and safe.
But the story relayed by Father Christiaan Kappes, while reportedly traveling home to Indiana from the ordeal, was so strange that family members are now concerned about his mental state.
Nadia Charcap listened to the call, in which Father Kappes detailed a bizarre assassination plot involving himself and his interpreter, and says she is now concerned that the stress of the past week may jeopardize his journey home.
During a 15 minute call to Fox 59 News, Kappes said that he and his translator, Ioanna Lekakou, left Greece because they were afraid for their lives. He said he made it from Greece to a small village in Germany. He then went on to say that he was calling from Munich and felt safe.
"We are in an airport, there is police, so there is no problem," Father Kappes said.
But Kappes went on to tell Fox 59 News that he and Lekakou still believed they were running from someone.
"I believe that there is an assassination attempt against myself and against Ioanna Lekakou," Kappes said. "If I am dead in 24 hours, you will know that this is true."
"The things that I heard on that tape were from someone who... is falling apart," Charcap said, after listening to the phone call.
Charcap said the story of that apparent assassination attempt did not resemble the story her brother told her family before he was reported missing last week. She says it also didn't sound like the conversation she had with him after he resurfaced on Monday.
"He was comforting me," Charcap said, "And he said, 'Nadia, I'm going to be home soon.'"
Charcap says she still believes her brother has been trying to protect Lekakou, who he said was being physically threatened by people associated with her family because of her inheritance.
Last week a reporter with Athens News confirmed that the two had visited a police station and expressed concern about Lekakou's family. They also learned that she had a injuries to one of her arms.
Later that day Father Kappes and Lekakou also showed up at the US embassy. According to State Department officials Kappes left after learning that he couldn't get immigration papers for Lekakou.
Charcap says she doesn't know exactly what her brother has been through since he left the embassy last week, but she says his phone call makes her very concerned about his mental health.
"He is having a really hard time understanding what is real at this point," Charcap said. "It sounds like he has suffered a very traumatic event and that it was so traumatic for him that it has affected him in a way where he needs somebody close."
She says her brother has never acted or sounded so strange and she is now wondering if he will get on his flight back to the U.S.
"I just need him to feel safe and at this point he doesn't feel like he can trust anybody," Charcap said. "He doesn't feel secure enough to fly for eight to ten hours, or however long it takes to get home. I'm not really sure why he feels that his security is threatened, but I know that we as a family are coming together, and we are going to do everything we can to get him home."
Source: WXIN-TV
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