http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_american_iranWASHINGTON – Four years after a retired FBI agent mysteriously vanished inside Iran, U.S. officials have received irrefutable proof he is alive, a dramatic development that has sharply intensified secret negotiations to bring him home, The Associated Press has learned.
The U.S. had lacked reliable information about whether Robert Levinson was alive or dead since he disappeared in March 2007 from the Iranian island of Kish. It remains unclear who exactly is holding Levinson or where he is, but the proof that he is alive is a rare hopeful sign in a case that had seemingly gone cold.
The State Department issued a three-sentence statement Thursday saying it had indications Levinson was in southwest Asia and asking Iran for help. The AP has learned fuller details after a lengthy investigation into Levinson's disappearance and the effort to get him back to the U.S.
