Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Reed served in the U.S. Marines.
STEADY GAINS: Trevor Reed, who lost 45 pounds during his incarceration in Russia, had gained 12-14 pounds at the time this photo was taken with his sister, Taylor, his mom Paula Reed said.
Trevor Reed might be home in Granbury by Memorial Day weekend, closing out the chapter of his almost three-year ordeal as a political prisoner in Russia.
Reed’s mother, Paula Reed, gave the Hood County News an update on her son’s physical and mental health, and his expected return home, on Saturday, May 21, ahead of a Jake Tapper CNN special that aired Sunday night featuring an interview with Trevor and his family.
“He’s seeming more like himself, personality-wise,” Paula stated in an email to the newspaper. “He has a wicked quick wit and with each day that passes, it is starting to return. He is starting to smile, laugh and cut up more.”
At the time that Paula communicated with the HCN, the Reed family — which includes her husband Joey and daughter Taylor, Trevor’s father and sister — was staying at an undisclosed location in San Antonio. Paula said that the family expected to possibly be back home with Trevor “sometime in the next week.”
Paula said that her son’s health is improving and that he tested negative for active tuberculosis. Trevor had been exposed to TB in prison and exhibited such symptoms as fever, weight loss and coughing up blood.
Paula said that her son will be tested for TB again in six months, but that doctors said the symptoms may have been related to COVID-19.
Reed, a former guard at the presidential retreat Camp David, spent almost three years in prison for what American authorities believe were political purposes.
The young man was taken into custody in May 2019 after becoming drunk at a party in Moscow that he attended with his Russian girlfriend, Alina Tsybulnik, whom he was visiting.
Although Tsybulnik was told that she could retrieve Reed shortly, Russian authorities refused to release him. Reed was charged with endangering a police officer, which he denied.
Camera footage along the route to the police station disproved claims that Reed had attacked the driver, causing the vehicle to swerve uncontrollably.
Nevertheless, on July 30, 2020, Reed was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a Russian labor camp.
During his ordeal, Reed’s family advocated for his release.
On April 27, Reed was surrendered as part of a prisoner exchange. He was traded for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot accused of drug smuggling.
Paula said that her son has never been comfortable being the center of attention and, when the reunited family went somewhere together after his release, he wanted to sit in a quiet, secluded area.
“But even that is getting a little bit better each day,” she stated.
Paula said that her son had been undergoing an in-depth re-integration process.
He was down 45 pounds from his normal weight when he was released but gained 10 pounds the first week and continues to gain, she said.
Paula said that Trevor desired for his return to Granbury to be “a quiet affair.”
