Dramatic Details Emerge of VanDyke's Escape from Libyan Prison

After spending five months in solitary confinement in one of Libya’s most notorious prisons, Baltimore writer Matthew VanDyke as Tripoli descended into chaos.

Merging into a crowd of several hundred other prisoners escaping from the Abu Salim prison, VanDyke walked to a mosque and then to the home of another former prisoner who offered to help him.

His first two phone calls were to Baltimore--to his girlfriend, Lauren Fisher, and his mother, Sharon VanDyke, who hadn’t heard from her son since Matthew’s phone went dead in March.

‘It was like a weight being lifted,” Sharon VanDyke told Patch, giving exclusive details about his confinement and escape. “It was wonderful to hear his voice. I just wanted to hear him say, ‘Hi mom’ the way he always does. And that’s exactly what he said.”

Knocked Unconscious

Matthew VanDyke’s , when he traveled to Libya to witness the historic regime change that was under way. A 2002 graduate of the University of Maryand, Baltimore County and a freelance writer, VanDyke had previously traveled through Libya and made friends who lived across the country from Tripoli, which was immersed in rebellion.

VanDyke was knocked out when captured by troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on March 13. He drifted in and out of consciousness and awoke in confinement to the screams of a prisoner in the cell above him being tortured, according to his mother.

He was moved from prison to prison, ending up being held in solitary confinement at Abu Salim—a top-security prison in Tripoli with a long record of human rights abuses, including the reported massacre of more than 1,200 prisoners in 1996.

Abu Salim “has a reputation for being the worst prison in Libya,” Sharon VanDyke said.

VanDyke's plight made national headlines when he became one of more than a dozen journalists believed to have been taken into custody by Gadhafi's government.

VanDyke was never physically hurt but was kept in strict isolation. “He didn’t talk with anybody, didn’t see anybody,” Sharon VanDyke said. “He thought at one point that he might lose his voice because he had nobody to talk to.”

Spending his days listening to voices in the corridor outside his cell—his captors sometimes sang along with state-sponsored programming on television—VanDyke had little idea of events that were transpiring in the outside world. He didn’t know whether anybody was aware he was alive.

Back home, his mother and Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-MD, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, —an effort stymied by a lack of diplomatic relations between the United States and Libya.

“During that time, he didn’t think anybody was looking for him,” Sharon VanDyke said. “He felt that it shouldn’t have taken so long [to get him out of prison]. In all those days and weeks in solitary confinement, you have all kinds of thoughts.”

"A Weight Lifted"

In late August, as Gadhafi’s grip on leadership began to slip, VanDyke noticed a change at Abu Salim. On Aug. 24, he was alarmed by banging on his cell door. He was told to come out.

“He wouldn’t leave his cell,” Sharon VanDyke said. “He thought it was guards coming to execute or torture him.”

Looking out his window, Matthew saw prisoners walking around. Guards were nowhere to be seen. He ventured out of his cell and blended in with the crowd, disguised by the beard he had grown during his captivity.

“He just walked away with several other men,” Sharon VanDyke said.

When he called home, Matthew had no clothing, no money and no passport.

“They took everything when he was captured,” Sharon VanDyke said. “All he had was the prison jumpsuit he wore when they left.”

Hearing her son’s voice after 166 days of captivity was an unfathomable relief. “It’s difficult to put into words how I felt,” she said. "It was a wonderful day."

Although his voice trembled at times, Sharon VanDyke said Matthew sounded fine. They have spoken several times since then, despite internet and cell phone access that is very limited or non-existent.

“During the first few calls, we could hear the tremor in his voice,” Sharon VanDyke said. “He now sounds like himself. In fact, his sense of humor has returned.”

"I'm Not Coming Home"

Matthew is remaining in Libya until the village he was visiting is liberated, according to his mother.

While in Tripoli, he was able to learn that his friends had all survived, but the three Libyans who were traveling with him when they were captured have not yet been located and may still be in prison.

“I’m not coming home until I know if our missing men are alive or not,” he told her.

“I will not leave Libya in shame or dishonor,” Matthew wrote home. “I want to see this to the end and return to America with honor and good memories.”

“Naturally, I’d like to have him home, but I understand his sense of commitment,” Sharon VanDyke said. “I knew he’d do this.”

Sharon VanDyke noted that Aug. 24 would have been the wedding anniversary of her late parents, whom she believes have been serving as Matthew’s guardian angels.

That thought, and the family’s faith have sustained them through the ordeal, she said.

“He just needs to come home and write his book,” said Sharon VanDyke.