POW Bowe Bergdahl's parents receive letter from captive son
BOISE, Idaho The family of an American prisoner of war captured four years ago in Afghanistan says it has received a letter it believes was written by him.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, disappeared from his base in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.
His mother and father in Idaho issued a statement on Thursday saying they've received a letter they are confident was written by their son.
In the statement, Bob and Jani Bergdahl say the letter, delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross, gives them hope that their son is doing as well as can be expected, under the circumstances.
"He was scripted and redacted but he was no doubt alive and his faculties fully functioning as of two months ago," his father told a family friend, according to CBS affiliate KBOI. "They are being very careful with him. He is still highly valued at high levels."
They thanked the Red Cross for its help and support — and renewed their plea for his captors to release him.
According to KBOI, the last update of any kind the family received was video released by the Taliban in May of 2011.
Last year, in response from criticism by Bergdahl's parents, Pentagon leaders said that the military and the intelligence community were doing everything possible to find 26-year-old soldier.