When her son was captured on a reporting trip in Syria, Nancy Curtis found herself in the improbable position of would-be rescuer. Along with three cousins, Nancy was thrown into a bureaucratic maze with no clear way out and no guarantee that her son, Theo Padnos, would ever return.
Theo was captured by a group with ties to Al-Qaeda in 2012. A freelance journalist with experience in the Middle East, Theo went to Syria to report on the humanitarian catastrophe. Instead, he spent almost two years in captivity, a nightmare he recounts in the documentary Theo Who Lived, available on Netflix.
Nancy and the cousins worked every channel they could to free Theo— the FBI, the State Department, their representatives in Congress—but they describe hitting a wall.
“The federal government couldn’t wait to get us out the door.” The FBI was an exception; their assigned agent was “fabulous,” Nancy says, but there was only so much the agency could do.
“Part of the problem was that it’s against the law to pay ransom.” Not that she had the money—up to $25 million was demanded.
As the months dragged on with no news, Nancy found support from parents of four other captured Americans: two journalists and two aid workers. Then, a week after journalist James Foley’s videotaped execution by the Islamic State in 2014, Nancy recalls that things started moving quickly.
A team led by editor David Bradley contacted the head of Qatari security, who negotiated for Theo’s release. Nancy and the family were never
told the terms of release, and the U.S. government has denied paying ransom.
“After an American citizen was gruesomely murdered, I think the word went out, ‘Let’s get this guy home.’”
Nancy understands that Theo “took a risk he shouldn’t have taken.” Still, she says, “An American citizen would expect their government to help them in a situation like this, and it did not.”
Theo is currently writing a book about his experience, and, remarkably, Nancy says she has moved on.
“This is not my identity. I had a long career. I’m an amateur potter and I have a few wonderful friends. I’m 81 and I’ve had a rich, long life.”