American woman feared dead in Iran trek -CONFUSION SURROUNDS REPORT OF WOMAN'S DEATH

Mercury News ^ | Wednesday, Aug 25, 2004 | By S.L. Wykes

[Khashayar]

The caller told Lisa Namphy that he was from the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, Iran. A hiker had come down from snow-capped Mount Damavand on Sunday with news that Namphy's mother had died on the mountain trail.

Then things got worse.

"There are so many conflicting stories,'' Namphy, of Palo Alto, said. ``And we have so little information. What we do know is that my mother is missing on Mount Damavand.''

Kathleen Namphy's family wasn't used to worrying about her. The 69-year-old mother, cancer survivor, veteran world traveler, peace activist and honored Stanford lecturer had been adventuring around the planet for decades.

Just last year, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa -- for the second time -- to raise money for cancer research. She followed that with fact-finding missions to hot spots in Iraq and the West Bank, where she kept an eye on alleged atrocities for a peacekeeping group.

Namphy set out a week ago to climb 18,000-foot Damavand, the second-highest volcano in the Northern Hemisphere. Just what has happened since remains a mystery.

Complicating the situation is the lack of diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran, where Kathleen Namphy once made a living trapping rare animals for Western zoos. The Swiss Embassy has had to serve as a go-between from 11 time zones away.

Then there's the uncertainty about the hiker, a Time magazine correspondent with Bay Area ties, who reported the death. Swiss officials suspect the hiker, former Berkeley resident Aryn Baker, might have been detained in the country to help with an official Iranian investigation.

``The Swiss Embassy talked to her, but haven't been able to talk to her again,'' Lisa Namphy said. ``She hadn't made it to Tehran.''

Through their grief, Namphy's family is desperately working to find out more.

[Khashayar]

PING!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

When my passport was taken away from me in Algeria, they were trying to make me quit my job and go to work for them. I ran around Algiers like a headless goose trying to get my passport back. We did not have diplomatic relations with Algeria. A friend suggested I go to the Swiss Embassy. When I walked in the gate of the Swiss Embassy, the first sign said American School. I am not sure there were any Swiss at their Embassy. The American Charge of affairs was a personal friend of a high up member of the Algerian Government.
I got my passport back the next day and got out on the next plane.

[Old Sarge]

The 69-year-old mother, cancer survivor, veteran world traveler, peace activist and honored Stanford lecturer had been adventuring around the planet for decades.

I stopped reading right here, because that's all I needed to know.

"Peace Activist", in a Muslim country? No guess needed what she was marching for.

[Valin]

Bump

[nuconvert]

Strange......

[piasa]

There is an Iranian air base in that area.

[MayflowerMadam]

Idiot. Stupid games ... stupid prizes.

One less “peace activist”. Not a problem.

[MayflowerMadam]

“had been adventuring around the planet for decades.”

The “planet” ... arrrgh!

[af_vet_1981]

I stopped reading right here, because that's all I needed to know.

"Peace Activist", in a Muslim country?

And a country that does not have diplomatic relations with the United States ?

Reckless and culpable

[af_vet_1981]

I’m very careful not to go to countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the United States. I do not even want to go to many that do; risk vs reward ratio; if she had family in Iran I might understand, but even then ...

[Paperpusher]

i have only visited two foreign countries in my life Mexico and California. I am not sure if California has diplomatic relations with the United States.