us_flag_backlit

WASHINGTON (AP) — New light is being shed on efforts to locate a military contractor from Illinois who was captured in Afghanistan.

The disappearance several months ago of 57-year-old Mark R. Frerichs has been shrouded in mystery. But The Associated Press has learned that in the days following Frerichs’ capture, Navy commandos raided a village and detained suspected members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while the U.S. intelligence community tried to track the cellphones of Frerichs and his captors. Frerichs remains a captive.

There are no public indications that he has been part of negotiations between the U.S. and Taliban leadership.