The mother of a U.S. Army soldier detained in Russia after visiting his girlfriend tells Fox News Digital that if she could write a letter to her son, she would say, “I love you, I miss you.” [and] I hope I can go home soon. ”
Melody Jones is speaking out as the two-week anniversary of the incident with Staff Sgt. Gordon Black was detained by Russian authorities in the far eastern city of Vladivostok. Black, 34, is charged with criminal misconduct for allegedly stealing from his girlfriend.
“I think he’s worried about embarrassing us. I would have told him in a letter, but no, you don’t,” Jones told FOX News Digital. .
She added that this Mother’s Day without him was “really hard” and said she was unaware of his current condition.
Mother of detained US soldier says Russian girlfriend begged him for money before his arrest
Gordon Black, a US serviceman held in Russia, poses for a selfie in an unspecified location in this social media photo (released in February 2023). (Gordon Black, via Facebook/Reuters)
“I can’t hear anything. I’m in trouble,” Jones said. “My understanding is that they haven’t been able to see him.”
“I’d be happy to know he’s okay. Being a mom, I worry about things like that,” she said.
Asked this week by Fox News Digital for more information on Black’s situation, a U.S. Army spokesperson said, “We have no new information at this time.”
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesperson said last week that it was aware of Black’s reported arrest and detention and that the department has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans abroad. Stated.
Black joined the Army in 2008 as an infantryman and was assigned to the 8th Army, USFK, Camp Humphreys, South Korea. The Pentagon said he had traveled to Vladivostok, Russia, for “personal reasons” before his arrest on May 2.
Mother of American soldier detained in Russia while visiting girlfriend believes he was ‘framed’
A photo of US Army soldier Gordon Black sending a vacation message from Iraq in 2009. His wife was unaware of his trip to Russia, she said, and she hired her divorce attorney in July 2022 to begin efforts to dissolve her marriage, her attorney said. (U.S. Department of Defense)
“When choosing the precautionary measure of detention, the court concluded that American B (a black man) could hide from the preliminary investigative authorities given the gravity of the charges,” the Pervomaysky District Court in Vladivostok said. Stated. And the courts are trying to avoid responsibility,” Reuters reported.
The report added that Black will be detained until July 2 on charges of “secretly stealing Citizen T’s property and causing serious damage to Citizen T.” Russian officials in Vladivostok announced that a 32-year-old woman had filed a complaint against Black.
Reuters cited officials as saying the two met in South Korea before Black’s visit to Russia, during which they got into an argument. Black then filed a police report accusing her of stealing money, and Black was reportedly detained at the hotel.
“On April 10, Black cleared the 8th Army to depart en route to Texas and signed out of his permanent base change,” Pentagon Deputy Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said last Tuesday. Stated. “However, Mr. Black did not return to the United States for personal reasons and instead flew from South Korea to Vladivostok, Russia, via China.”
Singh said the Army has launched an administrative investigation to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding his travel, and part of the investigation will include examining the impact of his actions.
September 2023, Russian port city of Vladivostok. Gordon Black was taken into custody. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images)
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Jones previously told Fox News that his son’s Russian girlfriend had asked her for money shortly before her son was arrested on suspicion of theft.
FOX News’ Bailey Hill, Luis Casiano, Greg Wenner and Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
