( CNN ) -- Gunmen abducted two American citizens along with their Filipino relative from a southern Philippines island Tuesday , police said . At about 3 a.m. , 14 armed men snatched Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann , 43 , her son , Kevin , 14 , and Lunsmann 's Filipino nephew , Romnick Jakaria , 19 , said Nonito Asbai , the area 's police chief inspector . Police and the Filipino navy have launched search operations , Asbai said . The victims were forced at gunpoint to board awaiting boats , which then sped toward the troubled island of Basilan , a stronghold of the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf . No one , however , has claimed responsibility for the abduction or asked for a ransom . Jakaria 's cousin , Alma Jakaria , said Lunsmann was adopted by Americans when she was 9 and grew up in Virginia . She married a German citizen and had her son , Kevin . Both she and Kevin are U.S. passport holders . Police suspect the son attracted attention because of his distinctive mixed-race looks in an area with few foreign tourists . The three were vacationing in Tictabon and were supposed to have returned to the capital , Manila , later Tuesday , Alma Jakaria said . 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 it a terrorist organization and says it is linked to al Qaeda . The Philippine government has been fighting to contain the militants . Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for terrorist attacks in the Philippines , including the 2004 bombing of a ferry that left about 130 people dead as well as past kidnappings . CNN affiliate ABS-CBN 's Queenie Casimiro contributed to this report .
The two men were abducted with a close escort . The three were held onto awaiting transportation , police said . They headed toward Basilan , a stronghold for militants .