nermeen khalifa, adam and jason, and their grandmother, afaf khalifa were landing in cairo. untouchable. confirmation would finally come at the most unlikely time. oh, yeah. i received a call from adam right after 9/11, and he said, i m not in america anymore. i m not even in new york. because he thought new york was a separate country. he was only 4 years old at the time. he says, when are you and pop-pop coming to get me? and i said, as soon as we can. reporter: shannon had every intention of doing just that. heading to egypt, armed with the law on his side, and bringing his boys home. then he called the state department for help. but officials there said there was nothing they could do. you ve seen no photos. nothing. state department won t get any because they said that the
president. suddenly, michael shannon felt very alone. and in the letter from nermeen khalifa s sister michael shannon was told, give up. force and bad tactics will only serve to put you farthest away from your objective, she writes. the children need to be with their mother. this is islamic law. and finally, eman khalifa wrote, please don t worry about them. you should be happy for them. michael shannon s fight was only beginning.
family won t allow it, it s intrusive. i ve asked for welfare and wellness checks, and the embassy writes letters to the family, and the family simply refuses them. the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! reporter: there may have been another reason for the state department s lack of interest. in late 2001 and early 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11, the united states was leaning heavily on egypt and its president, hosni mubarak, for support in the war on terror. we ve got a good friend, americans have a good friend. reporter: it would have been a bad time to bring up a minor issue like the kidnapping of michael shannon s two boys by the family with ties to egypt s president. suddenly, michael shannon felt very alone. and in the letter from nermeen khalifa s sister michael shannon was told, give up. force and bad tactics will only serve to put you farthest away from your objective, she
guardian for watching adam for a weekend. and i remember how difficult that decision was. reporter: august 2001. nermeen s father, afaf khalifa, flew from her home in cairo to baltimore to visit her daughter. and there was something else. afaf khalifa was asking permission to take her two grandsons and her daughter for a rare weekend trip out of state to new york, to visit a relative. shannon was suspicious but reluctantly agreed. i said to my father, i said, well, there s no way she can take them to egypt. i have full custody. i have full rights. i have their passports locked in a safe. how could she possibly get them out of the country? reporter: sunday night the boys weren t back. phone calls to the cousin in new york went unanswered. and then it just becomes
statement and don t take anything out of context. reporter: it is sunday morning, the beginning of the school week in cairo. at 7:05 a.m. two teenage boys are about to leave the apartment building where nermeen khalifa lives with her sons. when we come back, are these two young men michael shannon s kidnapped sons? ben! [ train whistle blows ]