Manila , Philippines ( CNN ) -- A Filipino-American woman abducted in July in the Philippines was found Sunday on an island stronghold of the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf , police said . Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann , 43 , was found at Suba Kampong township on the Philippine island of Basilan after her captors released her , said Bienvenido Latag of the Philippine National Police . The U.S. Embassy in Manila on Monday confirmed Lunsmann 's release in Basilan after she was held hostage by a still unidentified group of bandits . Latag did not say why Lunsmann was released , but the mayor of the town where Lunsmann was taken after she was released said she was freed following negotiations between her husband and her abductors . Mayor Cesar Lobregat , head of a Crisis Management Committee in Zamboanga City , declined to confirm whether officials paid a ransom . Fourteen gunmen snatched Lunsmann in July while she was vacationing with her family on the island of Tictabon , authorities said . The gunmen also took hostage Lunsmann 's 14-year-old son , Kevin , and her 19-year-old Filipino nephew , Romnick Jakaria , they said . Authorities said the abductors forced Lunsmann and her family to board awaiting boats , which then sped off in the direction of Basilan . It was not immediately known whether the captors are still holding Lunsmann 's son and nephew . Lunsmann was adopted by Americans when she was 9 and grew up in Virginia . She eventually married a German citizen . Both she and the son , Kevin , are U.S. passport holders . Police at the time of the abduction said they suspected the son attracted attention because of his distinctive mixed-race looks in an area with few foreign tourists . Basilan serves as a base for Abu Sayyaf , which wants to establish a separate state for the Philippines ' minority Muslim population . The U.S. State Department considers the group a terrorist organization and says it is linked to al Qaeda . The Philippines government has been fighting to contain the militants . Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for several terrorist attacks in the Philippines , including the bombing of a ferry in 2004 that left about 130 people dead , as well as past kidnappings .
Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann was released on Basilan island . Authorities are declining to confirm whether a ransom was paid for the woman 's release . Lunsmann was abducted in July along with her son and her nephew . TL;DR A Filipina who had been held captive by Abu Sayyaf militants since last year has escaped from their stronghold on Basilan, authorities said Friday, as part of a deal that saw them hand