Hi, it's Manveen here.
In 2022, we released a podcast series, Last Man Standing,
which was about the British photojournalist John Cantlie, who was kidnapped by ISIS in Syria.
Our series inspired the gripping new BBC TV documentary, Hostage, which began this week.
Four years on…
We've also been following new leads all over the Middle East and we've made some important new discoveries.
If you want to go back and listen to the full podcast series, just search for Last Man Standing.
It's season one in the Times Investigates feed and we'll put a link to that in the description notes of this episode.
Just a quick warning before we begin.
This episode does contain strong language and descriptions of violence.
In the chaos of war, mysteries are born,
secrets proliferate, cities are obliterated and humans vanish.
John Cantley was one such mystery.
Hello, my name is John Cantley.
I am a British journalist who used to work for some of the bigger newspapers and magazines in the UK.
At the height of the Syrian war, the journalist John Cantley,
along with his friend and colleague James Foley, was dragged from a car at gunpoint and kidnapped.
They opened the door and there was, like,
all of them wearing masks with a clashing cough and they start shooting on the ground.
And John, he started shouting and he says, I don't want to kidnap again.