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Nearly two decades after former FBI agent Robert Levinson disappeared in Iran, the FBI is renewing its appeal for information as colleagues and family members continue pushing for answers about one of the longest-running hostage cases involving an American.
FBI Director Kash Patel last week marked the anniversary of Levinson’s disappearance while recognizing Hostage and Wrongful Detainees Day, saying the bureau remains committed to finding out what happened to him.
“Even almost 20 years later, Bob is on our minds as much as ever before,” Patel said in a statement posted on social media. The FBI continues to offer up to $5 million for information leading to Levinson’s recovery, location or return, in addition to a State Department reward.
Levinson, a former FBI agent and Drug Enforcement Administration investigator, disappeared on March 9, 2007, while visiting Iran’s Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. Levinson was the longest-held hostage in U.S. history, and his family had fought for over a decade for his safe return, blaming the Iranian regime for his capture and imprisonment.
The FBI said it received this image of Robert Levinson in April 2011, four years after his disappearance. (FBI)
ROBERT LEVINSON, RETIRED FBI AGENT, PRESUMED DEAD IN IRANIAN CUSTODY OVER A DECADE AFTER DISAPPEARANCE
In 2020, U.S. officials said they believed Levinson likely died in Iranian custody, though his remains have never been recovered.
For former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker, who worked alongside Levinson years earlier, the case remains personal.
“I met Bobby Levinson when I was transferred to Miami in 1987,” Swecker told Fox News Digital. “He was kind of the iconic agent on the squad because he was prolific in developing cooperating cartel members and informants.”
Swecker said Levinson had built a reputation within the bureau for his ability to cultivate sources inside criminal organizations.
“He was a craftsman, a journeyman-level agent who knew what he was doing and was good at what he was doing,” Swecker said.
Levinson previously worked for the DEA before joining the FBI. Colleagues remembered him as a seasoned field investigator who preferred working cases rather than moving into management roles.
Swecker described the 6-foot-3 agent as both serious about his work and deeply devoted to his family.
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Levinson was 58 when he traveled to Kish Island, Iran, in 2007 working as a private investigator. He reportedly was taking part in an unauthorized CIA mission.
Upon his arrival, Levinson was said to have met with an American fugitive – Dawud Salahuddin – targeted by the CIA for recruitment, a source close to the Levinson case told Fox News in 2016.
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Salahuddin was wanted by the CIA for allegedly murdering an Iranian diplomat in Maryland in 1980, and Levinson hoped the mission to deliver him to the agency would secure him full-time employment with the CIA, the source told Fox News at the time.
Shortly afterward, Levinson disappeared, but Iran repeatedly denied capturing him or knowing of his whereabouts.
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“I eventually read that he had been hired on contract with the agency,” he said. “Just such a risk to go to the island of Kish with his background.”
Robert Levinson is shown in this undated photo provided by Christine Levinson. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Christine Levinson)
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Iran has long denied responsibility for Levinson’s disappearance, though U.S. officials say evidence shows Iranian authorities detained him.
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The U.S. Treasury Department in 2020 sanctioned two Iranian intelligence officials accused of involvement in Levinson’s disappearance and cover-up.