Molly Long recalls the heart-wrenching fear she and her family felt last January when they learned her brother, Dennis Coyle, had been detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Suddenly, they lost contact with the 64-year-old who called Pueblo home but had spent much of the past 20 years in Kabul working to survey Afghanistan’s rich linguistic diversity and help local communities develop resources in their own languages.
The family learned that Coyle was kidnapped near his workplace by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence. He has not been charged with a crime, and his family doesn’t know why he was taken.
The family’s first contact, Long told The Denver Post in an interview Wednesday, was not until July 3. It came in the form of a letter. Long can barely remember its contents since she was overcome with euphoria and relief, knowing he was still alive after months of silence and fear.
Since then, Coyle’s family has only been afforded four or five 10-minute phone calls, Long said. When they do get to speak, the conversation is guarded.
The family knows he’s being held in a basement with very little light and no windows. He has no mattress, just a floor mat to sleep on, Long said. He’s prohibited from speaking to anyone.
“He had all his rights and freedoms taken away,” she said.
Coyle grew up in the Phoenix area and moved to Pueblo for a job in the late 1990s. He returned to the U.S. every 18 to 24 months, with Colorado as his home base.
“Once he got there, he knew that’s where he was to be,” Long said. “He fell in love with everything Colorado.”
He’s never been married or had children, his sister said, but has always remained close with his family and community here.
Coyle evacuated Afghanistan in 2021 when the , but returned 18 months ago to finish his language project.
The Trump administration and the Afghan government for months have been secretly negotiating the release of U.S. detainees, including Coyle, the . Sources, though, told the newspaper that talks have stalled, with Afghan officials insisting that the Americans release Muhammad Rahim, the last Afghan inmate held at Guantánamo Bay, in any deal.
The U.S. State Department in June classified Coyle as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
The administration, Long said, has been highly engaged with the family.
“This is the president’s top priority — we can feel that,” she said. “It feels inspiring to know that President Trump knows my brother’s name and has it in his purview.”
At least five U.S. prisoners have been freed from Afghanistan over the past year. The Trump administration has publicly demanded the release of three more people, including Coyle, though Afghan officials say they only have two Americans.
Afghanistan ranks in the top five countries with the most number of American wrongful detainees, along with Venezuela, China, Russia and Iran, said Elizabeth Richards, director of hostage advocacy and research at the , an organization that advocates for American hostages and wrongful detainees held abroad.
Last year, more Americans returned from wrongful detainment than in any of the previous 22 years, Richards said.
“This shows the resolve and commitment this administration has to bring Americans home,” she said.
