And it has been two years...

Levinson disappeared in March 2007 on a trip to Iran's Kish islands. Levison's official reason for the trip was to scout locations on the for a Canadian documentary film. According to later statements from his family, Levinson was actually in Iran for an altogether different purpose - investigating cigarette smuggling on behalf of his security consulting firm. The State Department's official statement on the Levinson disappearance calls it a "business trip."

His wife, seven children and two grand children await his safe return.

Mr. Levinson was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice for 28 years, spending time with the FBI and DEA. After three decades of government service, Levinson hung out his own investigative shingle and in 2006 he joined SafirRosetti / GlobalOptions becoming the point man for their Florida office. Levinson at one point served as the managing directory of the Miami office of invesitgative firm, Decision Strategies and he was also famously involved in the investigation of the Paul Klebnikov murder.

One hopes for the best, but in this kind of situation who really knows. Levinson's family has set up a website to help keep attention on the case. You can find it here.

For more on how the Levinson case might find itself front and center in the Obama administration's renewed efforts at diplomacy with Iran check out this Miami Herald article from February.

-- MDT

Labels: Decision Strategies, GlobalOptions, Paul Klebnikov, Robert Levinson, SafirRosetti