Three American missionaries captured in Panama by Colombian guerillas in 1993 have been declared dead.

Rick Tenenoff, Mark Rich and David Mankins were kidnapped by the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) at the village of Pucuro in the jungles of eastern Panama near the border with Colombia.

Tenenoff, then 36, Rich, then 23, and Mankins, then 43, were helping plant a church among the Kuna Indians when armed guerillas burst into their homes.

The guerillas held the men at gunpoint while their wives who were with them, packed a few belongings and had to watch them being led into the jungle with their hands bound behind their backs.

That was the last they ever saw of them and they later returned to America with their young families.

The mission organisation they worked for, New Tribes Mission (NTM) in Florida, received demands from the guerillas, but this stopped abruptly in 1994.

Contact was renewed briefly in 1996, but then ceased and NTM believes the men were killed when the guerillas decided the men were a liability after a military attack that year.

Rick Tenenoff is survived by his wife Patti, and daughters Dora, 17, Connie, 12 and son Lee, 10.

Mark Rich is survived by his wife Tania and daughters Tamra, 11 and Jessica, 9 and David Mankins by his wife Nancy, two married children, Sarah and Chad, and granddaughter Ellie.

Dan Germann, field chairman of NTM Colombia when the men were taken and vice chairman of NTM's executive committee, said:"I sat in a Colombian prison in early September with a guerilla who once guarded Rick, Mark and Dave. His words, 'They are dead', were final and emphatic, confirming what we had heard from several other insurgents. The years of tears and anxiety for our dear brothers have ended. They have gone to a far better place. They rejoice in the presence of the God they served so faithfully. Colombian authorities and the FBI will continue to search for those responsible, but we now have the answer we need."

A memorial service for the three men will be held at 10am on October 6 at Northland Community Church, 530 Dog Track Road, Longwood, Florida.

The three wives spoke at the International Christian Human Rights Conferences hosted by CSW in 1997 and 2000, and CSW joins with many others in assuring the men's families of their ongoing support.

This year's International Christian Human Rights Conference, held on the same day, will observe a period of silence and prayer at the time of the memorial service.

Mervyn Thomas, CSW's chief executive, said: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families at this difficult time. We will continue to stand with them and want to assure them of our ongoing support. We continue to call on all parties in Colombia to commit themselves to the peace process and to renounce the use of kidnapping and extortion which brings such terrible suffering to the victims and their families."