Inside Caitlin Coleman and Joshua Boyle's ordeal as Taliban prisoners
Caitlan Coleman
A Taliban-linked faction has freed American  Caitlan Coleman  and  her  Canadian husband  Joshua Boyle  who were abducted more than five years ago in Afghanistan and had three children in captivity. (Joyce Lee/The Washington Post)
It must have felt like such an exciting time:  Caitlan Coleman  and  her  husband  Joshua Boyle  were embarking on a six-month adventure through Central Asia.
But their exuberant trip ended in a nightmare: In the fall of 2012  they were kidnapped by Taliban fighters. Over the next five years  relatives and friends could do little but pray for the couple's well-being. Hope came in the form of short video clips released by the captors. It was through that footage that the couple's families got to glimpse  Coleman  and Boyle's three children  born in captivity.
Here's a look at how  Coleman  and Boyle's ordeal unfolded:
July 4  2012: Shortly before she hopped on a plane   Coleman  sent an email to her friends. “Our flight leaves at 4 p.m. " she wrote. “Only God knows exactly where it will lead or what all can be accomplished  seen  experienced or learned while we travel. So we put ourselves in His hands.”
Coleman and Boyle planned to spend several months hiking through Tajikistan  Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan  the “safe ’stans ”  Coleman  told  her  parents.  She  promised that  she  wouldn't go to Afghanistan  though Boyle was fascinated by the country.  Coleman  and Boyle had another secret  too —  Coleman  was pregnant.
September 2012:  Coleman  emailed with friends every several weeks. In one missive   she  wrote:
 Caitlan Coleman  and Joshua Boyle in an undated photo. (Coleman Family/AP)
Oct. 8  2012: Boyle sent an email to  Coleman 's parents  saying they were in an “unsafe” part of Afghanistan. The next day  the couple made their final withdrawal from their bank account. Soon after  they were abducted in Afghanistan's Wardak province  a Taliban stronghold southwest of the capital. Officials believe they were eventually moved to Pakistan.
June 4  2014: Coleman's family released the two videos it received in 2013 of the couple with their children. As The Washington Post reported at the time: “The videos offer the first and only clues about what happened to  Caitlan Coleman  and Joshua Boyle after  they  lost touch with  their  families 20 months ago while traveling in a mountainous region near the capital  Kabul.”
The video clips were emailed to  Coleman 's father in July and September by an Afghan man who said he had ties to the Taliban. In one  Coleman — her head covered — appeals to “my president  Barack Obama” for help. “I would ask that my family and my government do everything that they can to bring my husband  child and I to safety and freedom ”  Coleman   then 28  says.
November 2015:  Coleman 's family received a letter stating that she has given birth to a second child in captivity. “I pray to hear from you again  to hear how everybody is doing ” the letter said.
January 2016: Canadian officials brokered a deal to free Colin Rutherford  another Canadian held captive by militants  along with  Coleman  and Boyle. Rutherford was freed  but the couple and their children remained in custody.
This image from video provided by the  Coleman  family shows Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle. The videos offered the first clue about what happened to  Coleman  and Boyle after they lost touch with their family. ( Coleman  family/AP)
June 2016:  Coleman 's family sent a videotaped message to the Taliban during the holy month of Ramadan  thanking the militant group for keeping their daughter alive and pleading for her safe return. “We desperately want to be with and hold our daughter and grandsons ” James Coleman said in the video. “As a man  father and now grandfather  I am asking you to show mercy and release my daughter  her husband and their beautiful children.”
December 2016: The Taliban released a fourth video of the family. “We have waited since 2012 for someone to understand our problems  the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves ”  Coleman  says in the video. “My children have seen their mother defiled. We ask  in our collective 14th year of prison  that the governments on both sides reach some agreement to allow us freedom.”
A Taliban-linked faction has freed American  [TGT]and  her  Canadian husband  Joshua Boyle  who were abducted more than five years ago in Afghanistan and had three children in captivity. (Joyce Lee/The Washington Post)
It must have felt like such an exciting time:  [TGT]and  her  husband  Joshua Boyle  were embarking on a six-month adventure through Central Asia.
But their exuberant trip ended in a nightmare: In the fall of 2012  they were kidnapped by Taliban fighters. Over the next five years  relatives and friends could do little but pray for the couple's well-being. Hope came in the form of short video clips released by the captors. It was through that footage that the couple's families got to glimpse  Coleman  and Boyle's three children  born in captivity.
Here's a look at how  Coleman  and Boyle's ordeal unfolded:
July 4  2012: Shortly before she hopped on a plane   Coleman  sent an email to her friends. “Our flight leaves at 4 p.m. " she wrote. “Only God knows exactly where it will lead or what all can be accomplished  seen  experienced or learned while we travel. So we put ourselves in His hands.”
Coleman and Boyle planned to spend several months hiking through Tajikistan  Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan  the “safe ’stans ”  Coleman  told  her  parents.  She  promised that  she  wouldn't go to Afghanistan  though Boyle was fascinated by the country.  Coleman  and Boyle had another secret  too —  Coleman  was pregnant.
September 2012:  Coleman  emailed with friends every several weeks. In one missive   she  wrote:
 Caitlan Coleman  and Joshua Boyle in an undated photo. (Coleman Family/AP)
Oct. 8  2012: Boyle sent an email to  Coleman 's parents  saying they were in an “unsafe” part of Afghanistan. The next day  the couple made their final withdrawal from their bank account. Soon after  they were abducted in Afghanistan's Wardak province  a Taliban stronghold southwest of the capital. Officials believe they were eventually moved to Pakistan.
June 4  2014: Coleman's family released the two videos it received in 2013 of the couple with their children. As The Washington Post reported at the time: “The videos offer the first and only clues about what happened to [TGT] after  [TGT]  lost touch with  [TGT]  families 20 months ago while traveling in a mountainous region near the capital  Kabul.”
The video clips were emailed to  Coleman 's father in July and September by an Afghan man who said he had ties to the Taliban. In one  Coleman — her head covered — appeals to “my president  Barack Obama” for help. “I would ask that my family and my government do everything that they can to bring my husband  child and I to safety and freedom ”  Coleman   then 28  says.
November 2015:  Coleman 's family received a letter stating that she has given birth to a second child in captivity. “I pray to hear from you again  to hear how everybody is doing ” the letter said.
January 2016: Canadian officials brokered a deal to free Colin Rutherford  another Canadian held captive by militants  along with  Coleman  and Boyle. Rutherford was freed  but the couple and their children remained in custody.
This image from video provided by the  Coleman  family shows [TGT] and Joshua Boyle. The videos offered the first clue about what happened to  Coleman  and Boyle after they lost touch with their family. ( Coleman  family/AP)
June 2016:  [TGT] 's family sent a videotaped message to the Taliban during the holy month of Ramadan  thanking the militant group for keeping their daughter alive and pleading for her safe return. “We desperately want to be with and hold our daughter and grandsons ” [TGT] said in the video. “As a man  father and now grandfather  I am asking you to show mercy and release my daughter  her husband and their beautiful children.”
December 2016: The Taliban released a fourth video of the family. “We have waited since 2012 for someone to understand our problems  the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves ”  [TGT]says in the video. “My children have seen their mother defiled. We ask  in our collective 14th year of prison  that the governments on both sides reach some agreement to allow us freedom.”