Freed Hostage Peter Theo Curtis Arrives Back in United States - East Idaho News
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Freed Hostage Peter Theo Curtis Arrives Back in United States

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ABC 082514 NancyCurtis?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409107016823Nancy Curtis Speaks with ABC’s Amy Robach. Photo Credit: ABC News(BOSTON) — American writer and journalist Peter Theo Curtis, who was held captive for nearly two years by Syrian militants believed to be allied with Jabhat al-Nusra, returned to the United States Tuesday, two days after his captors released him, his family said.

Curtis, 45, flew from Tel Aviv, arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport late Tuesday afternoon, and then flew on to Logan International Airport in Boston, where he met his mother, Nancy Curtis, according to a statement from his family.

“I have been so touched and moved, beyond all words, by the people who have come up to me today — strangers on the airplane, the flight attendants and, most of all, my family to say welcome home,” Theo Curtis said, according to the statement.

He also thanked the “U.S. officials who have worked on my case” and the government of Qatar.

His mother said she was “overwhelmed” to have her son home.

“I am overwhelmed with relief that this day has come and my son is standing beside me,” Nancy Curtis said. “But this is a sober occasion because of the events of the past week. My heart goes out to the other families who are suffering.”

He had been held for 22 months by Syrian terrorist group Jabhat Al-Nusrah, a different terror group than the ISIS extremists who beheaded U.S. photojournalist James Foley.

Curtis was handed over to United Nations peacekeepers in the Al Rafid village, located in the Golan Heights region between Syria and Israel, Sunday evening, 6:40 p.m. local time, according to the United Nations. He received a medical checkup before he was given to U.S. officials. After he was freed, Nancy Curtis said she got the chance to briefly speak with him on the phone.

Curtis’ return home comes as U.S. officials say they are closing in on the ISIS executioner who killed Foley. Prior to his death, Foley had been held hostage by ISIS for two years.


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