Migration
US offers up to $5 million for tips on two Americans missing in Afghanistan
Stars and Stripes
August 27, 2020
L-R: Author Paul Overby, was last seen in eastern Khost province in May 2014. Former Navy diver and longtime contractor Mark Frerichs went missing in Afghanistan in early February of 2020. (FBI)
KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information about the disappearance of two Americans in Afghanistan, one of them a Navy veteran.
Former Navy diver and longtime contractor Mark Frerichs went missing in early February in an undisclosed part of the country, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday.
He had been living in Afghanistan since approximately 2010 and worked on construction projects in various provinces, it said.
The second man, author Paul Overby, was last seen in eastern Khost province in May 2014, where he was doing book research. It’s thought he was planning to cross the border into Pakistan to carry out further research, the statement said.
The reward offers are “for information leading to the location, recover and return of Mr. Frerichs and Mr. Overby,” it said.
In an interview with ABC News in May, Frerichs’ family said they feared he would be left behind in Afghanistan as the U.S. pushes ahead with plans to draw down its forces in the country.
A U.S.-Taliban deal signed Feb. 29 stipulates that all foreign troops could withdraw from the country within 14 months. However, many of the conditions expected of the Taliban for the withdrawal to happen haven’t yet been met.
The ABC report said Frerichs was abducted on Jan. 31, likely by the Haqqani Network, a Taliban-affiliated group known for killing hundreds of American troops.
The reward offers totaling $5 million follow a separate $1 million reward announced by the FBI in 2018 for information on Overby’s disappearance.
L-R: Author Paul Overby, was last seen in eastern Khost province in May 2014. Former Navy diver and longtime contractor Mark Frerichs went missing in Afghanistan in early February of 2020. (FBI)
Paul Edwin Overby Jr. in Afghanistan in 2010. He was kidnapped in the country's Khost Province in 2014. (FBI)
An FBI poster offering a reward for information about Mark Randall Frerichs, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan earlier this year. (FBI)
Paul Edwin Overby Jr. in Maine in 2013. He was kidnapped in Khost Province, Afghanistan, in 2014. (FBI)
A photo of Mark Randall Frerichs from an FBI poster offering a reward for information about the American, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan in early 2020. (FBI)
An FBI poster offering a reward for information about Paul Edwin Overby Jr., who was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2014. (FBI)
A Justice Department poster offering a reward for information on Mark Randall Frerichs and Paul Edwin Overby Jr. who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2020 and 2014. (Justice Department)