How a St. Louis family’s connections freed their son from Syrian captivity

St. Louis on the Air

Sam Goodwin’s recreational trip to Syria took a terrifying turn when he was wrongfully accused of espionage and detained for nine weeks in 2019. While stuck on the inside of the country’s notoriously lethal prison system, his family in St. Louis worked relentlessly to secure his release. The story of his captivity, and the international network of people who helped him get out, is detailed in his new book, “Saving Sam: The True Story of an American’s Disappearance in Syria and His Family’s Extraordinary Fight to Bring Him Home.”