Message from Director Wray Regarding Bob Levinson

March 27, 2020

All,

Many of you may have seen yesterday’s news about Bob Levinson. I wanted to take a moment of your time to talk about Bob and this reporting.

Along with some of our inter-agency partners, I recently had the opportunity to meet again with Bob’s family. I listened to the family talk about Bob, and most importantly, how they’ve always held out hope that Bob would one day come home. So has the FBI. Ever since Bob’s disappearance from Kish Island in Iran in 2007, countless personnel — from Agents, to analysts, to professional staff — all across the FBI, especially the Washington Field Office, have worked tirelessly to bring Bob home and provide answers to his family. And to get answers for ourselves.

When I met with the Levinson family, we explained that the most credible evidence we have collected over the past 13 years points to the likelihood that Bob died in captivity. It pained me to deliver that news, but I believe that we owed Bob’s family a thorough and candid presentation of the information that we’ve collected.

This does not mean that the FBI has given up on finding out what happened to Bob. We’re going to keep working doggedly to determine the circumstances surrounding Bob’s abduction and his time in captivity, to find the answers we all want and that the Levinsons deserve. We won’t give up, because we don’t give up on family, and Bob, his wife Christine, and all of their children will always be part of our FBI family.

Director Wray

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