there was robert levinson staring back at his wife and ston frson from an electronic billboard. picture was taken from a mysterious video that the family received nearly two years ago. levinson, a retired fbi agent, pale and gaunt, being held somewhere and pleading for help. >> i have been treated well. i need the help of the united states government. >> i immediately knew it was bob, so i watched very carefully trying to figure out what the message was and i still don't know. >> reporter: this is bob levinson in better times. he's the father of seven and now has two grandchildren. in march of 2007, working as a private investigator, levinson travelled to dubai on a case involving counterfeit cigarettes. he took a side trip to kish island, an iranian free trade zone that requires no entry visa. he met with a contact there and was arrested by iranian authorities. >> when this first happened, i expected him to be home in a couple of days. unfortunately, that hasn't happened. and we still have no information on where he is or how to get him home. >> reporter: but you believe he's in

but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios >>> 2007 was the last time robert levinson'sily saw him, until they received this chilling video three years later. a much thinner levinson saying his health was failing and begging the u.s. government to help to free him from his captors,usan candiotti has more on this tireless fight. >> it is my husband, i have to take care of him, get him home. >> reporter: but after disappearing more than five years ago, christina levinson's husband was missing. >> i am running out of diabetes medicine. >> reporter: this video, showing the much thinner retired fbi agent being held hostage was sent to the family two years ago. the state department says it is not clear who is holding him. >> when we received the video, we had high hopes that we could get whoever was holding him to let us know what we needed to do to get bob home. unfortunately, that has not happened. >> reporter: levinson disappeared off iran's coast in 2007, where his family says he was investigating cigarette smuggling for a private company. fbi billboards are up in new york

there was robert levinson staring back at his wife and ston frson from an electronic billboard. the picture was taken from a mysterious video that the family received nearly two years ago. levinson, a retired fbi agent, pale and gaunt, being held somewhere and pleading for help. >> i have been treated well. i need the help of the united states government. >> i immediately knew it was bob, so i watched very carefully trying to figure out what the message was and i still don't know. >> reporter: this is bob levinson in better times. he's the father of seven and now has two grandchildren. in march of 2007, working as a private investigator, levinson travelled to dubai on a case involving counterfeit cigarettes. he took a side trip to kish island, an iranian free trade zone that requires no entry visa. he met with a contact there and was arrested by iranian authorities. >> when this first happened, i expected him to be home in a couple of days. unfortunately, that hasn't happened. and we still have no information on where he is or how to get him home. >> reporter: but you believe he'

. >>> an who -- retired fbi agent robert levinson disappeared during a business trip to iran's kish island. u.s. officials believe he's being held captive somewhere in southeast asia. in a video released last year, that was apparently made two years ago. robert levenson is asking the u.s. to help him get home. >> levenson's wife christine traveled to new york in the hopes of getting ahmadinejad involveded in situation. >> we'll never, ever, ever stop looking for you. >> the fbi has offered a million dollar reward for any information leading to levenson's safe return. >>> now to a police shooting in houston, an officer shot and killed a double amputee after police say he advanced on the officer's partner in his wheelchair. police were called by the people in the group home where he lives. when you hear just the basic facts here, you wonder, this guy's in a wheelchair, how could this escalate to a shooting? >> this all started over candy, cigarettes and soda. he became aggressive with his caretakers, after asking for candy and soda and cigarettes at about 2:30 in the morning. and they called

an update on tuesday's story about the search for retired fbi agent robert levinson.more than five years ago. when we interviewed iran's president he seemed to admit that they're holding levinson and there are on going negotiations for a prisoner swap. on tuesday levinson's wife christine spoke with senior correspondent john miller. >> were you surprised when you heard his comments? in the past he's asked and said much less. >> i was quite surprised but i was also happy to hear it. that means we can actually hopefully resolve bob's case. >> you consider these comments a step forward? >> yes, i do. i do. i hope the iranian government and president ahmadinejad will continue to work to return bob to his family. >> that's a really interesting story. when we talked to him about that, there's indication that he is there, this acknowledgment there's been some discussion of a swap and we'll see if there's some movement on this case. a family is missing their father and grandfather for more than five years. >> one aspect of the story we didn't report which is after yards irani

an update on the search for robert levinson. he vanished in iran more than five years ago.rviewed iran's president this week he seemed to admit they are holding levinson and that there were ongoing negotiations for a swap. on tuesday levinson's wife spoke. >> were you surprised when you heard his comments? i mean in the past he's been asked and said much less. >> i was quite surprised. but i was also happy to hear it because that means we can hopefully resolve bob's case. >> so you consider these comments a step forward? >> yes, i do. i do. i hope that the iranian government and president mahmoud ahmadinejad will continue to work towards returning bob to his family. >> that's a really interesting story, charlie and gayle when we talked to them about that, indications that he's there, this acknowledgement there's some discussion of a swap and we'll see if there's some movement on this case. the family is missing their father and grandfather for more than five years. >> one aspect of that story that we didn't report which some iranians say he's in pakistan. i don't know wheth

. >>> 2007 was the last time robert lefinson's family saw him until they received a video a few years later. a much thinner levinsoning his health was failing and begging the u.s. government to help free him from his captors. suzy candiotti spoke with the retired fbi agent's wife and her mission to bring him home. >> this is my husband. i have to take care of him. i have to get him home. >> reporter: but after disappearing more than five years ago christine levittson's husband, bob, is a long way from home where he once cuddled his newborn grandson. >> i am not in very good health. i am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine. >> reporter: this video showing the much thinner retired fbi agent being held hostage was sent to the family two years ago. state department says it's unclear who is holding him. >> when they received the video, we had high hopes because we e-mailed back a mof times in order to get whoever is holding him to let us know what we need to do to get bob home. unfortunately, that hasn't happened. >> levinson disappeared off iran's coast in 2007 where his family says he was investigating cigar

. >>> 2007 was the last time robert lefinson's family saw him until they received a video a few years later. a much thinner levinsoning his health was failing and begging the u.s. government to help free him from his captors. suzy candiotti spoke with the retired fbi agent's wife and her mission to bring him home. >> this is my husband. i have to take care of him. i have to get him home. >> reporter: but after disappearing more than five years ago christine levittson's husband, bob, is a long way from home where he once cuddled his newborn grandson. >> i am not in very good health. i am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine. >> reporter: this video showing the much thinner retired fbi agent being held hostage was sent to the family two years ago. state department says it's unclear who is holding him. >> when they received the video, we had high hopes because we e-mailed back a mof times in order to get whoever is holding him to let us know what we need to do to get bob home. unfortunately, that hasn't happened. >> levinson disappeared off iran's coast in 2007 where his family says he was investigating cigar