The mother of Cody Weddle, a 29-year-old Virginia native who is based in Caracas, confirmed to Fox News that Weddle messaged mother Sherry Weddle, along with his sister, on Facebook, to tell them he was alright.
Weddle, who has lived in the Venezuelan capital city since 2014, and has worked as a freelancer for multiple news stations and newspapers, including the Miami Herald, Florida’s WPLG Local 10 and ABC, told his mother he's at an airport in Venezuela and is hoping to travel to Miami on Thursday morning.
The U.S. State Department confirmed earlier Wednesday that it was "aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another U.S. journalist has been detained" by President Nicolas Maduro.
"Being a journalist is not a crime," spokesperson Kimberly Breier tweeted. "We demanded the journalist's immediate release, unharmed."