Kirk von Ackermann ( – 9 October 2003) was an American contractor who disappeared in Iraq in 2003. His family was given a "presumption of death of a citizen abroad" certificate three years later. He has not been officially declared dead.

Early life

Von Ackermann was an intelligence officer in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and had previously served as a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

linguist in the United States Army. Among his roles in the Air Force was that of "former Deputy Director of Intelligence for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

operations in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

in 1999, where he had been decorated for operations behind enemy lines."

Disappearance

He was employed by Ultra Services of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey when he disappeared in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on October 9, 2003. His car was found empty on a road between

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

and

Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...

, with his equipment and $40,000 still inside. He had called a colleague, Ryan G. Manelick, a short while earlier to say that he had a flat tire and needed a jack. On December 14, 2003, Ryan G. Manelick was gunned down just after leaving

Camp Anaconda Balad Air Base () , is an Iraqi Air Force base located near Balad in the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad, Iraq. Built in the early 1980s, it was originally named Al-Bakr Air Base. In 2003 the base was captured by the United States Armed Forces ...

. The Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU) at

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command The United States Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID or DACID), previously known as the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC), is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Depa ...

(USACIDC) is investigating. The CID have not given a firm conclusion on when or where von Ackermann may have died, although these is a presumption that it may have happened on October 9, 2003, in a botched kidnapping attempt. They still, however, refuse to give out information on his case which is still "active." Von Ackermann's body was never found. The

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover and identify unaccounted Department of Defense personnel listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) fro ...

lists Von Ackermann as one of five remaining missing servicemen or DOD contractors since the onset of

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Personal life

Before going to Iraq, Von Ackermann was a manager at

Siebel Systems Siebel Systems, Inc. () was an American software company principally engaged in the design, development, marketing, and support of customer relationship management (CRM) applications—notably Siebel CRM. The company was founded by Thomas Sieb ...

, a business software company in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, and living in

Moss Beach, California Moss Beach is a coastal census-designated place in San Mateo County, California, with a year 2020 census population of 3,214. Located in Moss Beach are the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, a marine sanctuary; the Half Moon Bay Airport, the historic ...

. He is survived by his wife, Megan, and three children.

References

External links

Death of a Contractor
Dan Halpern, Rolling Stone, March 8, 2007
The Missing Man
– blog with links to articles on Manelick & Von Ackermann {{DEFAULTSORT:Ackermann, Kirk Von 1960s births 2000s missing person cases 2003 deaths American people of the Iraq War American people taken hostage Foreign hostages in Iraq American people imprisoned in Iraq Missing person cases in Iraq United States Air Force officers United States Army officers

Early life

Disappearance

Personal life

See also

References

External links