FOXNews.com: NO LONGER 'MISSING'?US Couple 'Spotted' in Peru; Family Wants Proof

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NO LONGER 'MISSING'?US Couple 'Spotted' in Peru; Family Wants Proof Feb 27th 2013, 08:35 A California couple that vanished while on a biking trip in Peru and were feared kidnapped have reportedly been spotted in a remote village.  Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal were last heard from Jan. 25 while traveling from the highlands city of Cuzco to Lima, but U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Leslie Goodman said Tuesday that Peruvian police say the two had been spotted in the Amazon. Reuters reports Peru's tourism ministry issued a separate statement Tuesday, saying, "the American tourists are continuing to enjoy their trip in the Peruvian Amazon" and were safely on their way by river boat north to the border with Ecuador. National police spokeswoman Betty Lazo tells the Associated Press she was told by the hostel manager in the jungle city of Iquitos that the two departed on a boat trip on the Napo river. However, Hand's mother says that until the family has "proof of life" they will not stop their search.  "Proof of life is my son's voice on the phone and a picture of him holding the missing poster," Francine Fitzgerald said in a statement.  Fitzgerlad said she was told a plane was being sent to meet the couple but that she was given few other details of their whereabouts or well-being. Hand and Neal left for Peru in December and were said to have vanished while en route to Lima from Cusco, an area where U.S. citizens have been warned by the embassy of kidnapping risks. "The information told to me is that they are on a boat on the river and that they are sending a plane to find them.  I am told to expect information by tomorrow sometime," Fitzgerald's statement reads. "While I appreciate the extraordinary efforts of the media, the U.S. and Peruvian governments, until I hear from and see my son directly, we will not stop."   Friends and family have said they were worried the pair had been abducted and that their bank accounts had remained idle since they went missing. Reuters reports Peru's ministry of tourism said in its statement that the couple were in good health and surprised to learn that they had been reported as missing. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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