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When five prisoners were released from a Venezuelan jail on Monday, a Utah mother hoped her son would be one of them.
Laurie Holt had heard from a few "credible sources" and saw tweets from foreign journalists, talking about a "Mormon Americano" being expelled from the country. But as the day came to an end, Holt's lawyer told her Josh Holt wasn't on the list. After more than four months of seeking his release, she would have to continue waiting.
"You get your hopes up and then they pretty much rip them apart," Laurie Holt told The Tribune on Wednesday.
Josh Holt, a 24-year-old Riverton man, was arrested and jailed June 30 in Venezuela on suspicion of weapons charges. A former Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionary, he traveled to the country to marry Thamara Caleno, a Mormon woman he met online in January to practice Spanish and proposed to five months later in the Dominican Republic. They planned to return to Salt Lake City once Caleno obtained a visa.
After a June honeymoon in Ecuador, the two were arrested on accusations that Josh Holt was a spy and had stockpiled guns and grenades in Caleno's apartment — which Laurie Holt denies. Both of the newlyweds remain in jail.
Laurie Holt has lobbied for their release, speaking with Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, and Rep. Mia Love. Hatch released a video statement Wednesday on Twitter, noting that he has worked with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, to negotiate Josh Holt's freedom.
"What's happening to them is not right, it's not fair," Hatch says in the video. "And we're not going to stand for it. I'm continuing to work behind the scenes, and I feel optimistic with our progress."
Laurie Holt and her husband, Jason, also recently published an op-ed in The Washington Post, saying jail wardens have mistreated and neglected her son.
"They recently forced him to undress and respond to humiliating commands while naked, violating Josh's Latter-day Saints religious beliefs and practices," the piece reads. "The prison has also repeatedly refused court-ordered medical treatment for his deteriorating health."
She has previously said that Josh Holt, one of 12 U.S. citizens jailed in Venezuela, was coughing blood and couldn't breathe, fearing he had contracted pneumonia or bronchitis. He has also lost weight since his arrest, and has been "very, very depressed," she said.
Laurie Holt also penned a letter addressed to Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, saying she was worried he may have confused Josh Holt's LDS mission in Everett, Wash., with Washington, D.C. — taking him as a political hostage under the belief that he was involved with the U.S. government.
"Please, I beg you to help me release my son and my daughter. My heart has been ripped from me," she wrote. "I literally tremble all the time with concern for my son, and miss his smile and his loving embraces. ... His only mistake was falling in love."
U.S. Ambassador Thomas Shannon met with Maduro and the Holts' lawyer, Laurie Holt said, but has not yet secured a release.
Josh Holt and Caleno have a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday — the couple have had two previous court dates, but a judge failed to show for either one. Meanwhile, Caleno's two kids, ages 5 and 8, have been staying with family while their mother is incarcerated.
Though it has been a painful process, Laurie Holt remains hopeful that her son and his wife will be released later this week. She has heard that the jail plans to discharge more political prisoners as the week goes on.
Twitter: @CourtneyLTanner