Pastor David Theobald rejoiced with Ryan Corbett’s family in Texas as he returned home after being held captive by the Taliban for nearly 900 days. Theobald credited God’s timing for the safe release and joined the Corbetts in celebrating their long-awaited reunion.
Corbett, who was abducted in August 2022 while on a business trip and held by the Taliban for 894 days, reunited with his relatives in San Antonio, Texas, before planning to return to his hometown of Dansville in Livingston County, Spectrum News reported.
Corbett spent his first hours back on U.S. soil with close family members after his arrival early Wednesday morning. His family later issued a statement expressing their gratitude for his release and requesting privacy while he recovers from his prolonged detention.
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Theobald, who leads Grace Baptist Church in the same community where Corbett’s father once served, described a lengthy period in which only a few individuals knew of Corbett’s initial capture.
“We had been walking with them through it for a year before they did that,” he said, referring to the day Corbett’s story became public. Theobald called the knowledge of Corbett’s situation a “huge responsibility,” explaining how church members kept the family’s struggle private until authorities made the case more widely known.
Theobald first met Corbett’s family 15 years ago when he took over pastoral duties from Corbett’s father.
The pastor said the church played an integral part in providing emotional support. “For months, the family fought in silence, only finding peace in the Grace Baptist Church community,” he told Spectrum News. He credited the family for staying involved in worship activities, noting that Corbett’s children sing, play instruments and assist in the sound booth.
Corbett’s wife, Anna, teaches violin and has also performed at church events.
Upon hearing about Corbett’s release, Theobald received a phone call from Anna. He said he could sense her joy “beaming through the phone.”
The pastor added, “I was just overwhelmed. I was trying to find words. I was trying not to ball like a baby. … I just rejoiced with her.”
Corbett’s release came as part of a swap in which an Afghan national convicted of drug smuggling and extremism in the U.S. was sent back to Afghanistan, according to Reuters.
The newswire cited a spokesman for the Taliban who said two Americans were released. The other American is William McKenty.
Corbett and McKenty were transferred through Qatar before returning home last week, CBS News reported.
Afghan Foreign Ministry officials said they had traded them for Khan Mohammed, who received two life sentences in a 2008 trial in the U.S., according to The Associated Press. Mohammed, 55, had been detained on the battlefield in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and later flown to California, where he was found guilty of securing heroin and opium bound for the U.S. and, in doing so, aiding terrorist activities.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on social media platform X that the Taliban might be holding more American hostages than publicly known. “If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders.”
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has filed applications for arrest warrants targeting two Taliban leaders, including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada. The charges concern the alleged persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, which occurred soon after U.S. troops withdrew from the country, ending two decades of conflict.
