Article In Conejo Valley Examiner, CA

It took Yvonne 12 years to get past the emotional and physical trauma of her kidnapping, torture, rape and rescue to finally tell her story.

In 1992 Bornstein, a wife, mother of two, and businesswoman, found herself caught up in the political disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Lured to a newly capitalist Moscow by a business proposition, Yvonne and then husband, Daniel Weinstock, Australian citizens, were kidnapped, tortured and held for $1.6 million ransom by Chechen rebels originally thought to be gypsies or members of the Russian mob. It was only in 2002 that a key player in the rescue, Russian attorney and Chechen terrorist expert Dimitry O. Afanasiev, amazingly linked the kidnappers to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Clouding the jurisdiction of the crime was the ransom demand made to Daniel Weinstock's New Jersey family. With three countries involved, a rescue attempt seemed impossible, particularly since the FBI and KGB had never worked together and had been Cold War enemies.

Yvonne's kidnapping and rescue 11 days later, was an historical first joint operation between the FBI and KGB. The FBI chronicled the event in a press release following the rescue making front page headlines in the US and international media including The NY Times; Los Angeles, Times, Dallas Morning News and UPI.

Yvonne Bornstein is currently in negotiations for the film rights to her story. Bornstein will be signing the book beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 31, upstairs at the Westlake Promenade Barnes and Noble.