Canadian hostage, wife & children freed from Afghanistan, Oct 2017 #1

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airplanelamp

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Apparently Caitlan and Josh Coleman are missing in Aghanistan and have been since Oct. Caitlan is pregnant and due in January 2013.

The father of a pregnant American woman missing in Afghanistan has broken his silence over her disappearance to make a desperate plea for her safe return.

James Coleman, father of 27-year-old Caitlan Coleman, told The Associated Press his daughter was traveling with her Canadian husband when she vanished in early October. The last communication came from Caitlan's husband, Josh, who said he was in an Internet cafe on Oct. 8, in what he described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan. Caitlin was due to give birth in January.

An Afghan official has claimed the couple was kidnapped in Wardak province, west of the capital Kabul. So far, however, there has been no clear evidence they were abducted. Many insurgent groups operate in the area, but none have claimed responsibility for their disappearance, or demanded a ransom.

"I'm not sure whether they have been kidnapped by the Taliban or not," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told CBS News on Monday. "We are still investigating."

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul would only confirm that it was in contact with Coleman's family and was "coordinating closely with the Canadian authorities."

"Due to privacy considerations we cannot provide additional information about the case," embassy spokesman David Snepp told CBS News in a written statement.

A spokesperson for the governor of Wardak province, Shahidulla Shahid, was also unable to shed much light on the couple's fate.

"We are aware that an American woman and her husband have disappeared," he told CBS News, "but our investigation has found no lead in the case."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162...-months-in-afghanistan-with-canadian-husband/
 
Josh, Caitlan's husband, does not have the last name, "Coleman."

James Coleman, the father of 27-year-old Caitlan Coleman, told The Associated Press over the weekend that she was due to deliver in January and needed urgent medical attention for a liver ailment that required regular checkups.

He said he and his wife, Lyn, last heard from their son-in-law Josh on Oct. 8 from an Internet cafe in what he described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan. The Colemans asked that Josh be identified by his first name only to protect his privacy.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...nistan-pleads-article-1.1230147#ixzz2GhihrWgg

Photo shows Caitlan Coleman and her husband:

article-caitlin-1231.jpg


Not revealing a missing person's name may make it more difficult.

He resembles famous Canadian, Neil Young:

Neil9.jpg
 
Were they 'vacationing' in Afghanistan?
 
This is the missing husband's second marriage. His first marriage was to a woman whose family allegedly has strong ties to Al Qaeda; one of her brothers is serving time (in a Canadian prison, after being held in Guantanamo) on terrorist charges for killing Americans in Afghanistan, and Osama Bin Laden was apparently a guest at her second wedding as he had close ties with her father. If these assertions are true, I'm a little skeptical of the "just touring around Afghanistan, trying to do good" thing. From what Canadian papers are reporting, it doesn't sound like the husband has ever really had a job, but is instead a wannabe activist embracing causes that he doesn't really fully understand, maybe as a reaction against the fact that his father is apparently a well-known Conservative judge. Don't get me wrong--I'm as crunchy granola lefty as they come, and I'm all for activism. But he sounds a bit like an overgrown teenager who rushes to embrace a cause without truly understanding the history and context and subtleties of the issue, in a way that's more appropriate to someone who's 19, not 29. I think the American 2nd wife sounds naive, and maybe got caught up in something that he might not have been completely honest with her about.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...x-husband-and-new-wife-missing-in-afghanistan


Canadians may remember Boyle as the former husband of Zaynab Khadr, the once outspoken sister of Omar Khadr who spent a decade in Guantanamo Bay before his transfer to Canadian custody this fall.

Their marriage lasted a year, ending in early 2010. A year later, Boyle married Coleman.

“Unaware of the difficult residence and work issues upon a Canadian and American marrying, they planned a series of lengthy travels for 2 years before settling down to family life,” Boyle’s parents said.

“In 2011, they spent 4 months travelling throughout all the countries of Central America, returning for Thanksgiving. They enjoyed staying in hostels and tents, connecting as much as possible with local people and helping out as opportunities arose.”

Boyle kept in touch with a Star reporter during those years, writing periodically about his travels. In September 2011, he emailed from Honduras that he was doing volunteer work.

His last email to the Star was sent in March, when he said he was set to travel again soon.

Boyle, a graduate of the University of Waterloo, took a keen interest in national security and human rights issues following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks; it was through his advocacy that he met Khadr in 2008.

He later worked as a Khadr family “spokesperson” — helping organize Zaynab Khadr’s Parliament Hill hunger strike in the fall of 2008 to raise awareness of her brother’s case in Guantanamo.

I find it a little odd that a man who said in interviews that "he loves to do research" didn't research the regulations about American/Canadian marriage beforehand.

More on the first marriage and a mysterious break-in at his parents' house:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/612296

When Ottawa police received a routine 911 call for a suspected break-in last month, they could never have foreseen the strange saga that would unfold – one that involves a federal court judge, the notorious Khadr family, RCMP protection and a wedding that would set tongues wagging among Ottawa's political elite.

The home belonged to Patrick J. Boyle, a well-known and connected judge of Canada's tax court. Police reportedly found the front door smashed, the house ransacked and what appeared to be holes from .22-calibre bullets in the windows.

The incident, combined with Boyle's position, raised alarms since the police force was already investigating the murder of his colleague, former Tax Court Chief Justice Alban Garon, who was killed alongside his wife and a neighbour in 2007.

But then another connection came to light. Boyle had recently become the father-in-law of Zaynab Khadr, the outspoken sister of Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.

The link to the Khadr clan, once called "Canada's First Family of Terrorism" because of the patriarch's former association with Al Qaeda's elite, would make the already curious March 20 break-in even more suspicious.

More on the Khadr family:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/khadr/

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/04/01/welcome-to-the-family/#more-47236


And lastly (and most sadly), an article from the Pakistan News Service, dated Oct. 12 of this year (so, shortly after the couple was last heard from):

http://paktribune.com/news/2-foreigners-kidnapped-254086.html

2 foreigners kidnapped
12 October, 2012

KABUL/GHAZNI: Two foreign citizens were kidnapped by armed insurgents on their way from southern Ghazni province to the central capital Kabul, an official said on Thursday.

A government official based in Maidan Wardak province confided to PAN the foreigners -- a man and a woman -- were travelling in a car that went missing in the Shashgaw area on the Kabul-Ghazni highway. A resident of the area said on condition of anonymity that the kidnap victims were an American woman and a Canadian man. They were seized by the Taliban between Shashgaw and Salar areas of Syedabad district on Wednesday.

A Taliban commander in Syedabad, meanwhile, confirmed the abduction of the foreigners by the fighters. However, he refused to give details. Ghazni Public Health Director Baz M. Himmat said the body of a woman was brought to the civil hospital by Afghan soldiers. The woman was mysteriously killed and her body founded on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, he said. The 25-years-old victim, wearing Afghan dress, could not be identified.

Nothing about the above link has been verified in other sources, however (and I'm not sure how much the Pakistan Tribune counts as mainstream media), and if there was definite proof that something like that had happened, I would think the parents would have been notified.


Article on the first marriage:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-marriage-thrust-into-the-public-eye/article4214590/



I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but I really wonder what they were doing in Afghanistan.

ETA: Ah, MrsPC beat me to it! Also, none of the above is meant to construe that I in any way think either one of the missing couple in any way deserves or provoked any of this.
 
While this is my first post EVER, as I usually sit back silently and think about what I could contribute to the cases, I'm not sure why I'm choosing this case as my first post. I can already tell this case will be way over my head!

A few very simple minded questions I had include:
1) What caused the decision of divorce between Boyle and his first wife?
2) Wouldn't a man who claims to have written nearly everything on terriorism on wikipedia and who states he was a spokesman for one of the most dangerous families have some sort of idea of where to and where not to travel (in reference to the statement that most locals wouldn't even use the road that Boyle/Coleman traveled).
3) Would the Khadr family really shoot up the Boyle parent's home to retrive family documents that were easy enough for Boyle to obtain from prior researching?
4) And last but not least... People real bond so closely over an internet discussions on their love of Star Wars that it can become a large basis for their later marriage?!?! LoL
 
Welcome to WS, VerbalCues, and Happy New Year!
 
Yes, welcome VerbalCues! Excellent questions.

:welcome5:
 
This is the missing husband's second marriage. His first marriage was to a woman whose family allegedly has strong ties to Al Qaeda; one of her brothers is serving time (in a Canadian prison, after being held in Guantanamo) on terrorist charges for killing Americans in Afghanistan, and Osama Bin Laden was apparently a guest at her second wedding as he had close ties with her father. If these assertions are true, I'm a little skeptical of the "just touring around Afghanistan, trying to do good" thing. From what Canadian papers are reporting, it doesn't sound like the husband has ever really had a job, but is instead a wannabe activist embracing causes that he doesn't really fully understand, maybe as a reaction against the fact that his father is apparently a well-known Conservative judge. Don't get me wrong--I'm as crunchy granola lefty as they come, and I'm all for activism. But he sounds a bit like an overgrown teenager who rushes to embrace a cause without truly understanding the history and context and subtleties of the issue, in a way that's more appropriate to someone who's 19, not 29. I think the American 2nd wife sounds naive, and maybe got caught up in something that he might not have been completely honest with her about.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...x-husband-and-new-wife-missing-in-afghanistan




I find it a little odd that a man who said in interviews that "he loves to do research" didn't research the regulations about American/Canadian marriage beforehand.

More on the first marriage and a mysterious break-in at his parents' house:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/612296



More on the Khadr family:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/khadr/

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/04/01/welcome-to-the-family/#more-47236


And lastly (and most sadly), an article from the Pakistan News Service, dated Oct. 12 of this year (so, shortly after the couple was last heard from):

http://paktribune.com/news/2-foreigners-kidnapped-254086.html



Nothing about the above link has been verified in other sources, however (and I'm not sure how much the Pakistan Tribune counts as mainstream media), and if there was definite proof that something like that had happened, I would think the parents would have been notified.


Article on the first marriage:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-marriage-thrust-into-the-public-eye/article4214590/



I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but I really wonder what they were doing in Afghanistan.

ETA: Ah, MrsPC beat me to it! Also, none of the above is meant to construe that I in any way think either one of the missing couple in any way deserves or provoked any of this.

Thank you for the effort you put into this post Mouse! Well done and informative.

I wonder if they were traveling in a part of Afghanistan where the Khadr's got into their battle with the American soliders. I'm not sure why they would though! Boyle seems to have 'no bounds'.

Hopefully the couple is still alive.
 
Wow. This case is much more bizarre than originally reported.

So, the male is Josh Boyle. I wonder if HIS father considers him missing right now? Since it seems its HER parents who are going to the media etc. I wonder what his influential father's take is on the whole thing.

And, it does seems REALLY odd that they would choose to travel to Afghanistan, especially while pregnant.....and given his first marriage etc.......odd.
 
****Does anyone know if its possible to edit the title of the thread to reflect Josh Boyle's accurate name?**** I am the OP but cannot figure out how to do so. TIA
 
Wow. This case is much more bizarre than originally reported.

So, the male is Josh Boyle. I wonder if HIS father considers him missing right now? Since it seems its HER parents who are going to the media etc. I wonder what his influential father's take is on the whole thing.

And, it does seems REALLY odd that they would choose to travel to Afghanistan, especially while pregnant.....and given his first marriage etc.......odd.

In answer to your question...yes, his father considers him missing as per the Star article linked above.

“We are all anxiously awaiting some word on their well-being or whereabouts and are constantly praying for their safe return,” Boyle’s parents Linda and Patrick wrote to the Star in an email Monday night.

“We have not been contacted by anyone claiming to have them or seen them since early October, when there were local reports of a kidnapping in the region.”

I'm going to guess that it had been recommended to both families by officials of both the Canadian and American governments that they keep the disappearance under wraps for a while, and wait to see if they would be contacted by kidnappers. I can't imagine how difficult this has been for the parents of both Caitlan and Josh!
 
Thank you, Mouse, for explaining part of this strange story.

This is the missing husband's second marriage. His first marriage was to a woman whose family allegedly has strong ties to Al Qaeda; one of her brothers is serving time (in a Canadian prison, after being held in Guantanamo) on terrorist charges for killing Americans in Afghanistan, and Osama Bin Laden was apparently a guest at her second wedding as he had close ties with her father.

The Taliban & al-Quaida are strong religious conservatives; seems a bit odd that they would forgive a woman for marrying a Westerner so quickly, and then even attend her second wedding.



If these assertions are true, I'm a little skeptical of the "just touring around Afghanistan, trying to do good" thing. From what Canadian papers are reporting, it doesn't sound like the husband has ever really had a job, but is instead a wannabe activist embracing causes that he doesn't really fully understand, maybe as a reaction against the fact that his father is apparently a well-known Conservative judge.

No. Job. Young people who drift into these third-world danger zones often seem to have no career path. We should view this situation as partially an economic problem.

Ironically, they go to Afghanistan, India, Nepal and similar places because they like the freedom.

Don't get me wrong--I'm as crunchy granola lefty as they come, and I'm all for activism. But he sounds a bit like an overgrown teenager who rushes to embrace a cause without truly understanding the history and context and subtleties of the issue, in a way that's more appropriate to someone who's 19, not 29.

Even we right-wingers can agree with you on that point. To a certain extent, one might sympathize with the boredom and frustration he might have felt as he considered the prospect of whiling away decades in a cubicle, but he should have been more considerate of the health of his wife and unborn child, not to mention the feelings of his parents.


I think the American 2nd wife sounds naive, and maybe got caught up in something that he might not have been completely honest with her about.

Not to blame the parents in any way, but they might have advised their daughter that these countries are not safe, esp. for pregnant women.

I find it a little odd that a man who said in interviews that "he loves to do research" didn't research the regulations about American/Canadian marriage beforehand.

What is the difficulty in such marriages? It's news to me.



Nothing about the above link has been verified in other sources, however (and I'm not sure how much the Pakistan Tribune counts as mainstream media), and if there was definite proof that something like that had happened, I would think the parents would have been notified.

Third-world news reports are usually more detailed and accurate, because their journalists take their job more seriously; whereas in the US, the news is just "info-tainment." Still, the couple might still be alive.

Consider this quote:
Ghazni Public Health Director Baz M. Himmat said the body of a woman was brought to the civil hospital by Afghan soldiers. The woman was mysteriously killed and her body founded on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, he said. The 25-years-old victim, wearing Afghan dress, could not be identified.

The report was dated October 12, 2012. If the woman was Caitlan Colemen, she would likely have been identified by now.




I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but I really wonder what they were doing in Afghanistan.

I wonder what we are doing over there, except wasting taxpayer money.
 
Thank you, Mouse, for explaining part of this strange story.



The Taliban & al-Quaida are strong religious conservatives; seems a bit odd that they would forgive a woman for marrying a Westerner so quickly, and then even attend her second wedding.





No. Job. Young people who drift into these third-world danger zones often seem to have no career path. We should view this situation as partially an economic problem.

Ironically, they go to Afghanistan, India, Nepal and similar places because they like the freedom.



Even we right-wingers can agree with you on that point. To a certain extent, one might sympathize with the boredom and frustration he might have felt as he considered the prospect of whiling away decades in a cubicle, but he should have been more considerate of the health of his wife and unborn child, not to mention the feelings of his parents.




Not to blame the parents in any way, but they might have advised their daughter that these countries are not safe, esp. for pregnant women.



What is the difficulty in such marriages? It's news to me.





Third-world news reports are usually more detailed and accurate, because their journalists take their job more seriously; whereas in the US, the news is just "info-tainment." Still, the couple might still be alive.

Consider this quote:

The report was dated October 12, 2012. If the woman was Caitlan Colemen, she would likely have been identified by now.






I wonder what we are doing over there, except wasting taxpayer money.

The difficulties of the marriage are referred to in an article above, regarding work and residency status, which seems to have kept them traveling.
 
Consider this quote:
Quote:
Ghazni Public Health Director Baz M. Himmat said the body of a woman was brought to the civil hospital by Afghan soldiers. The woman was mysteriously killed and her body founded on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, he said. The 25-years-old victim, wearing Afghan dress, could not be identified.
The report was dated October 12, 2012. If the woman was Caitlan Colemen, she would likely have been identified by now.

I wonder if it means that the victim cannot be named. If they know she was 25 they should know who she is I think.
 
This is the missing husband's second marriage. His first marriage was to a woman whose family allegedly has strong ties to Al Qaeda; one of her brothers is serving time (in a Canadian prison, after being held in Guantanamo) on terrorist charges for killing Americans in Afghanistan, and Osama Bin Laden was apparently a guest at her second wedding as he had close ties with her father.

We invaded Afghanistan, and innocent farmers uniting to protect their families and communities should not be considered terrorists. The prisoners held in Guantanamo are prisoners-of-war, and we are abusing them by not giving them definite sentences and releasing them in a timely manner.


But how did the Afghani fighter end up in a Canadian prison? Maybe the marriage was just "on paper," and not a real marriage, and possibly conferred on the "wife" the right to sue the US to transfer her brother to the (more comfortable?) Canadian prison. Maybe Canada has some law that guarantees that prisoners can be released eventually esp. when there is no real evidence against them. In the US, we have such laws; but the Cuban island is used to circumvent our legal system.

The Islamic fundamentalists may have attended her "second" wedding, understanding that the first marriage was not a real marriage, but merely a convenience. Therefore, they may have felt gratitude toward Josh Boyle, and he may have seen himself as an heroic figure over there.
 
I wonder if it means that the victim cannot be named. If they know she was 25 they should know who she is I think.

Why wouldn't they be able to name her? The identification could be done by DNA.
 
889cbe234401b77ebbf3820b5270.jpg


Boyle is an Irish or English name, but is Josh Boyle possibly also of Afghani descent? That would explain his interest there.
 
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