Widows of 3 kidnapped missionaries sue for death certificates

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - After waiting eight years for confirmation of their husbands&#39; death, three widows of missionaries kidnapped and killed in Colombia are waiting again, this time for the federal government to deliver death certificates. <br> <br> The widows of missionaries Mark Rich, Dave Mankins and Rick Tenenoff, filed suit late last year state Circuit Court in Sanford to obtain the death certificates. <br> <br> A judge is expected to grant them the documents this spring, officials said. <br> <br> The three men, all members of the New Tribes Mission in Sanford, were kidnapped Jan. 31, 1993. A jailed guerrilla said last year that they were killed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. <br> <br> The State Department told the widows that it needs official notice from Colombian and U.S. Embassy officials in Bogota before it will issue ``presumptive death&#39;&#39; reports. The missionaries&#39; remains have not been recovered. <br> <br> ``The last nine years will always be a part of me,&#39;&#39; Tania Rich, 32, told the Orlando Sentinel. ``But I want to move on and grow from it, not be defined by it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Chris Lamora, a spokesman for the State Department&#39;s bureau of consular affairs, declined to comment. <br> <br> Rich, Nancy Mankins and Patti Tenenoff had waged a diplomatic battle to find their husbands, leading them to Congress, human-rights agencies, heads of state and the queen of Spain. <br> <br> The political connections paid off. A congressional probe is investigating why the State Department has not released a full report to the widows. Reps. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, and Bob Barr, R-Georgia, have asked for assistance from Secretary of State Colin Powell.