The family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared 13 years ago on an island off the coast of Iran, said Wednesday that he died while being held in Iran — the longest held hostage in American history.
“We recently received information from US officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody,” his family said in a statement Wednesday.
Family members said they did not know how or when he died, “only that it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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The World Health Organization declared the virus outbreak a pandemic on March 11. And on March 9, the FBI’s Washington field office noted the anniversary of his disappearance and called the date “another opportunity for the leadership of the government of Iran to finally return Bob home to his family.” The family apparently received the latest information after that.
The Iranian government did not respond to a request for comment.
Levinson, who spent 22 years with the FBI, went missing March 9, 2007, during a business trip on Iran’s Kish Island. At the time, the U.S. government maintained he was there on his own. But six years later, federal officials reluctantly admitted he was there doing contract work for the CIA.
At the time of the disclosure, his family said the U.S. government failed to make his recovery the priority it should have been.
The only known traces of Levinson surfaced in 2011 when family members released still photos and a video in which he pleaded for help.
“I have been held here for three-and-a-half years. I am not in very good health. I am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine,” he said on the recording.
Iranian officials steadfastly denied knowing anything about him, despite queries from the U.S. and requests through other countries that had better relations with Iran.
“Those who are responsible for what happened to Bob Levinson, including those in the US government who for many years repeatedly left him behind, will ultimately receive justice for what they have done,” the family’s statement said.
