My question exactly. Who are they? Where are they? How have they been silenced?
Yes, and what dark secret are they hiding that is even beyond gun running? The cover-up leads to conspiracy theories. Could they have been transferring chemical weapons to the Syrian Jhadis to fake an attack by Assad's forces, for instance? Could they have been funneling weapons to groups which were known to be transferring them to Gaza to attack Israel? There is more there yet to be uncovered and the missing staff, and maybe locals, probably have the answer but have been disappeared.