The FBI is still pushing to find out what happened to one of its own: Robert Levinson. Nearly 20 years after the retired FBI agent vanished on Iran's Kish Island, FBI Director Kash Patel marked both the March 9 anniversary of his disappearance and Hostage and Wrongful Detainees Day, saying the bureau remains determined to learn Levinson's fate and is maintaining a reward of up to $5 million for information that could lead to his recovery or remains, per Fox News. "Even almost 20 years later, Bob is on our minds as much as ever before," Patel wrote on X, as Levison's family publicly hoped the war with Iran would lead to answers.
Levinson, a onetime DEA investigator who became a highly regarded FBI agent known for flipping criminal insiders, disappeared in 2007 while in Iran as a private investigator. He was reportedly on an off-the-books CIA mission to meet American fugitive Dawud Salahuddin, wanted in the 1980 killing of an Iranian diplomat in Maryland. In 2020, US officials said they believed Levinson died in Iranian custody, though Tehran has long denied detaining him and his body has never been found. The Treasury Department that year sanctioned two Iranian intelligence officials it said were linked to his disappearance and a subsequent cover-up.
As the US and Israel went to war with Iran last month, Levinson's family released a statement demanding that the return of Levinson's remains be included in any nuclear deal with Tehran, reports Newsweek. They said they wanted Iran to "provide full accountability for what happened to our father, return his remains to our family, and disclose the truth about his kidnapping, imprisonment, and death." Separately, one of Levinson's seven children told CBS News that Levinson was taken in by Iranian authorities, who "have lied to us every day ever since." Dan Levinson said he was hopeful the Trump administration's "aggressive posture" would bring about a resolution.
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