Accompanying them on the ride home were Bauer's parents Cindy Hickey and Al Bauer, Fattal's parents Laura and Jacob Fattal with his brother Alex, and Shane Bauer's fiancee Sarah Shourd, 33, who was arrested with the pair near the mountainous border with Iraq on July 31, 2009.
Detainees Bauer, left, and Shourd with Nora Shourd. Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey, said the parents are "very grateful to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the authorities for granting us a visa" to visit.
Reached by phone at her home in Pine City, Minn., Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey, used the word "devastation" to describe how she felt. "We were thirsting for a resolution." Fattal's mother, Laura Fattal, told the AP she got the news in a late-night call from the State Department. She said th
Bauer's mom, Cindy Hickey, said other foreigners imprisoned in Iran have been released in a much shorter time span. She said the length of time the hikers have been in custody has taken a "devastating toll" on the families.