Family of Former FBI Agent Press for His Return

The family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson believe he is still alive, although it's been nearly six years since he went missing in Iran in 2007.

 

According to The Telegraph newspaper in London, the family has released photographs of Levinson in an orange, Guantánamo Bay prisoner-like jumpsuit to spur renewed attention to the case from the Obama administration.

 

In a statement responding to the release cited by the Telegraph, FBI spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire said, "As we near the sixth anniversary of his disappearance, the FBI remains committed to bringing Bob home safely to his family."
 

Levinson, who retired in 1998, was working as a private investigator when he disappeared, according to the newspaper. He was last seen on the Iranian island of Kish, where he had apparently gone to investigate cigarette smuggling.

The Telegraph described the island as "a popular resort area and a hotbed of smuggling and organized crime."
 

The Iranian government has denied any involvement in his disappearance, but Levinson's wife, Christine, told the Associated Press there has been no pressure put on Iran "to resolve this," despite her own meetings with President Barack Obama and new CIA chief nominee John Brennan.
 

"It needs to come front and center again," she said. "There needs to be a lot more public outcry."