Paul Edwin Overby Jr. (born November 27, 1942) is an American author who disappeared on his way to
Waziristan
Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...
, in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
's
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, nation = Pakistan
, subdivision = Autonomous territory
, image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg
, image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...
, to interview
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Sirajuddin Haqqani ( ps, سراج الدين حقاني, Sirāj al-Dīn Ḥaqqānī, ; aliases ''Khalifa'', and, ''Siraj Haqqani''. born December 1979) is an Afghan Islamist militant who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting ...
.
[ Overby's wife, Jane Larson, revealed it happened on May 17, 2014. Journalists agreed not to publish his identity until January 2017, when she agreed to make his identity public.][
]
Disappearance
Larson had believed Overby had been kidnapped by the Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
.[ However, on February 28, 2017, the Taliban released a statement denying that they had kidnapped Overby.][
]Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
called for his release, on January 27, 2017.[ On March 19, 2019, journalist David Rodhe, a former hostage himself, noted in the '']New Yorker magazine
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', that Overby was one of the Americans still in captivity.[
]
Later events
On May 8, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his rescue.[ In addition, the ]Rewards for Justice Program The Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is the counterterrorism and counterintelligence platform administered by the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service agency. The Rewards For Justice program is seeking information leading to the ...
offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his location.
Publications
In 1993, Overby had published a book on the Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...
, ''Holy Blood: An Inside View of the Afghan War''.[
]
See also
*List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
Before 1900
1900–1949
...
*List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overby, Paul
1942 births
2010s missing person cases
American male writers
Kidnapped American people
Missing people
Missing person cases in Pakistan