US Renews $6 Million Rewards for Missing American Paul Overby in Afghanistan

The United States on Friday renewed two rewards totaling $6 million for information on an American who disappeared 12 years ago in Afghanistan.

Freelance writer Paul Edwin Overby Jr. vanished in Khost province in May 2014 while conducting research for a book, the FBI said. He had told associates he might cross into Pakistan.

Overby previously wrote a nonfiction book on Afghanistan, "Holy Blood: An Inside View of the Afghan War." Reuters reported that his wife, Jane Larson, said he was working on a follow-up and hoped to interview Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the Taliban-allied Haqqani militant network.

His wife told a Pakistani newspaper in 2017 that she believed he had been kidnapped. She appealed to his captors to reunite "an aging couple." Overby would be 83 years old now.

"For over a decade, FBI agents and analysts have worked tirelessly to find Paul and bring him home," said Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox. "We will continue to coordinate with partner agencies and pursue all credible leads until we can provide Paul's family with the answers they've waited 12 years to hear."

The Taliban has recently released several Americans held in Afghanistan. In March, Dennis Coyle, a 64-year-old academic and language expert from Colorado, was freed from detention.

Ryan Corbett and another American, William McKenty, were released in January 2025 with help from Qatari negotiators. The exchange involved a Taliban figure imprisoned for life on drug trafficking charges.

George Glezmann and another American, Faye Hall, were released in March 2025. A fifth American, Amir Amiri, was freed last September.

The FBI Washington Field Office announced a reward of up to $1 million. The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program offers up to $5 million for information leading to Overby's location, recovery, and return. Both rewards remain unclaimed.