Parents of the Pennsylvania woman held by the Taliban for nearly four years said that she has given birth to a second child while still in captivity.
Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle vanished during a trip to Afghanistan in 2012, while the 29-year-old York County native was pregnant.
In November, her distraught parents received a letter from Caitlan, which provided fresh evidence that she’s still alive — and news that she’s now given birth to a second son.
"Thank you for sharing such wonderful news. These blessings brought us great joy," her father James Coleman said in a heartbreaking video posted to YouTube.
"Such news has also brought us great sorrow. We desperately want to be with our daughter and hold our grandsons, who we long to meet and care for."
Coleman appeared in the video with his wife Lynda, who wore a hijab out of respect for the captors, according to Circa.
In the videotaped plea timed to coincide with Ramadan, Coleman begged Taliban leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada to free their daughter and son-in-law.
"I am asking you to show mercy," Coleman said.
"Please allow Caity and her family to come home."
When the young couple disappeared in October 2012, they were initially believed to be held in Pakistan, according to ABC News.
Their captors have not directly communicated with their hostages’ families at all, though two videos of the noticeably thinner couple were released in 2014.
It’s not clear whether there have been any ransom demands.
Caitlan and Josh — who was previously married to the daughter of an alleged al Qaeda financial backer — are believed to be held by the Taliban network controlled by the Haqqani family.
The Haqqani family previously held and released U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
The couple met online and had been married for about a year when they took their ill-fated trip to Russia, Afghanistan and a slew of other countries in the region.
"They really and truly believed that if people were loved and treated with respect that that would be given back to them in kind," said Linda Boyle in 2014.
"So as odd it as it may seem to us that they were there, they truly believed with all their heart that if they treated people properly, they would be treated properly."
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