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| Charles Horman |
Born on May 15, 1942 in New York City, Charles graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and later from Harvard University. Working as filmmaker at KING-TV in Portland, Oregon, Charles created the short documentary "Napalm," which won a Grand Prize at the Cracow Film Festival in 1967. He wrote articles as an investigative journalist for various magazines and newspapers. Charles protested against the Vietnam War at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and was honorably discharged from the Air National Guard in 1969. Charles met Joyce Marie Hamren while both were visiting Europe in 1964. They were married four years later. In December 1971, Charles and Joyce embarked on a journey that eventually led them to Chile. They settled in Santiago, where Charles undertook various projects including the production of an animated film for children in conjunction with Chilean friends. Charles also collaborated with Pueblo Films and wrote the script for a documentary film on the social and economic history of Chile. In early 1973, Charles began editing and publishing a small non-profit news magazine, Fuente de Información Norteamericana (FIN), that focused on social and political issues.
On September 17, 1973, six days after the US-backed military takeover, Charles was kidnapped by CIA agent Ray Davis and the Chilean military and taken to the Estadio Nacional, which had been turned into a make-shift concentration camp. There he was interrogated, tortured and later executed on the orders of Pedro Espinoza. A second American journalist, Frank Terrugi, was killed in the same way. One month later, Charles' body was found in a morgue in the Chilean capital. The murder of Horman and Terrugi were later dramatized in the 1982 film "Missing." -- Daniel Polivka
