UPDATED: Couple with Ties to Del Rey Yacht Club Killed by Pirates

(UPDATED at 4:30 p.m.)

The remains of the four Americans killed by Somali pirates are aboard the USS Enterprise off the coast of Somalia and plans are being made to return them back home, according to a spokesman for U.S. Navy Central Command in Tampa, FL.

More details have emerged about the events that led to Somali pirates shooting and killing four U.S. hostages, including Jean and Scott Adam, who have been members since 2001 of the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey.

Vice Admiral Mark Fox, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and of the U.S. 5th Fleet, spoke with reporters earlier today from his headquarters in Bahrain about the incident.

Fox said that a Royal Danish Navy ship reported to the 5th Fleet on Friday about 4 p.m. local time that its helicopter had identified a privately-owned U.S.-flagged ship that appeared to have been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Oman.

The ship was identified as the S/V Quest owned by Scott and Jean Adam and four U.S. Navy warships were deployed to help recover it, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS Bulkeley. Negotiators made contact with the pirates via bridge to bridge contact and a series of talks began, Fox said.

Two pirates boarded the USS Sterett on Monday as part of the negotiations and remained there overnight. At 8 a.m. local time (10 p.m. Monday, Pacific Time), a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was unexpectedly fired from the Quest toward the USS Sterett, which was about 600 yards away. The RPG missed and shortly thereafter gunfire was heard erupting from the cabinet of the Quest and several pirates moved to the bow with their hands in the air in surrender, Fox said.

Small boats with U.S. Special Operations Forces responded to the gunfire and boarded the Quest to find that all four hostages had been shot and died despite immediate life-saving care. Two pirates who had already died also were found aboard the 58-foot yacht.

While clearing the yacht, two more pirates were killed by U.S. forces. One was shot to death and the other was killed with a knife, Fox said.

Fox said the pirates were intent on getting the hostages to Somalia and were consistently making their way southwest toward the lawless country.

Unmanned aerial vehicles were used to track the Quest until the warships arrived in the area, Fox said.

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A couple who had sailed with the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey were among four Americans who were shot and killed by Somali pirates, officials said Tuesday.

U.S. forces heard gunfire about 10 p.m. Monday onboard the (S/V) Quest while negotiations were still under way to secure the release of the four hostages, according to a statement from U.S. Naval Command in Tampa, FL. U.S. forces reached and boarded the Quest after hearing the gunfire and found all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite emergency attempts to save them, all four died of their wounds.

"We express our deepest condolences for the innocent lives callously lost aboard the Quest," said Gen. James N. Mattis, U.S. Central Command commander.

The Quest was owned by Scott and Jean Adam, a couple with ties to the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey who had been on a multiyear sailing voyage distributing Bibles around the world. The yacht was hijacked Friday by pirates about 270 miles off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean.

The reaction team that responded to the gunfire was engaged by pirates when it boarded the Quest and two pirates were killed during the confrontation and 13 were captured and detained along with two pirates already in the custody of U.S. forces, U.S. Navy officials said. The remains of two other pirates who already were dead also were found on the Quest. It is believed that 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the 58-foot sloop.

U.S. forces had been closely watching the Quest for about three days since it was hijacked by the pirates. Four U.S. Navy warships were on hand to help recover the Quest, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS Bulkeley.

The Quest had been the home of the Adams, formerly of Newport Beach, since 2004 when they departed on their multiyear, around-the-world tour to distribute Bibles. The two other Americans onboard were Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle.

A website on the Quest maintained by the Adams says that Jean was a former dentist and that the Del Rey Yacht Club was the couple's mail drop. The Quest started its around-the-world tour with the Del Rey Yacht Club's international race to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in 2005. It later met up with the Del Rey Yacht Club during a rendezvous in the Polynesian islands.