Somali pirates release Southern California surf journalist after 3 years

A noted travel and surf journalist who was captured and held captive by Somali pirates for nearly three years has been released and now is undergoing medical evaluation.

Michael Scott Moore, who has roots in the South Bay and is considered an authority on Southern California surf culture, was released Tuesday, according to Stefan Biedermann, a spokesman for the German General Consulate in Los Angeles.

Moore holds duel U.S. and German citizenships.

Biedermann said he had little information about what led to Moore’s release but said the journalist was safe.

“I’m not healthy but I am safe. It’s an astonishing story, but right now I have to recover my wits and spend time with family and friends,” Moore said in a short statement released by the German magazine Der Spiegel, for which Moore had freelanced.

“I hope journalists will respect that,” his statement said.

“He said he was OK. He had a little skin rash and other than that, I don’t think he has any serious medical issues,” Moore’s stepfather, Lou Saunders, told ABC7

Moore was kidnapped on Jan. 21, 2012 in the town of Galkayo while researching a book about piracy. He was working under a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting at the time.

Moore, who wrote the surfing novel “Sweetness and Blood...” had previously traveled to Africa to write a series of articles on the same subject. Moore also had freelanced in the past for The Times.

“The lengthy kidnapping of Michael Scott Moore is a tragic reminder of how dangerous the situation in Somalia is for journalist,” said Reporters Without Borders CEO Christian Mihr.

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