Butler County native dies while being detained in Yemen

Chesapeake, Va. – The State Department confirmed a Chesapeake man died while being detained in Yemen.

Officials have not released the circumstances surrounding Hamen’s death.

CBS News reported that two American contractors were detained by Shiite Houthi rebels who had control of a Yemen airport.

“We obviously express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.” said Mark Toner, a spokesman for the US State Department. “State Department officials provided all possible consular assistance to the family”, William Cocks, a spokesperson for the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, said in a statement.

“Our family is heartbroken right now”, she wrote.

His wife, Jen Hamen, wrote on his Facebook page that she’d learned of his death Saturday.

The John Hamen Memorial Fund, created by Cornish on GoFundMe to assist Hamen’s family, had raised $15,215 of its $25,000 goal as of early Tuesday evening.

According to neighbor Michael Bruns, who spoke to Cincinnati.com, Hamen is due to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.

Toner would not confirm whether the second detainee was also an American, but did say that it was his understanding that the victim died while detained by Houthi forces.

Farhan Haq, spokesman for the United Nations, said Hamen was working for an outside company that manages U.N. facilities in capital city Sanaa.

On Hamen’s LinkedIn page, his most recent role is described as a Special Operations Forces joint training team communications observer, a job which he left in 2012.

Hamen, a retired Army Master Sergeant, served multiple military tours in Iraq, Qatar, Somalia and Bosnia during his lengthy service from 1990 to 2012, the Pilot added.