After several rumors of Hassoun's beheading, he showed up hundreds of miles away in his native country of Lebanon on July 8. Officials say Hassoun contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to come and fetch him.

Marine officials said Hassoun's main duty was to be a truck driver. In fact, when he returned to duty at Camp LeJeune, Hassoun had been working as a dispatcher for a truck-driving division, even while facing charges.

But during the brief court hearing on Dec. 21, Marine officials disclosed that Hassoun's skills in speaking Arabic were used in an undercover intelligence operation known as a Human Exploitation Team in which Marines don civilian clothes, change their appearance and are then sent out among the civilian population to gather information.

The news of his involvement in intelligence has caused some twists in Hassoun's legal case, as many witnesses who were expected to be called to testify were undercover agents whose identities needed to be protected, according to Marine prosecutors.

Despite pending charges, Hassoun was granted holiday leave to visit his family in Utah. Morgan said Hassoun did arrive in Utah. A Deseret Morning News reporter saw Hassoun at the airport in Raleigh, N.C., the day after the Dec. 21 hearing waiting for his flight home.

Family spokesman Tarek Nosseir said the family told him Hassoun left Utah Dec. 28, traveling through Las Vegas because of flight delays. "He arrived on the 29th in Washington, D.C., and that's the last they have heard from him," Nosseir said.

Nosseir said the family was shocked to hear the news of the Marine Corps' call for Hassoun's arrest, adding the family believes Hassoun's cell phone battery may have died, putting him out of touch. "That's what they're hoping. The family is concerned and praying that he's safe and sound," Nosseir said.

Morgan said the military made attempts to contact Hassoun, and Hassoun's military defense attorneys have not heard from him, either. After waiting 24 hours past the time he was due to report for duty, the decision was made to list him as a deserter.

"Attempts were made to contact him and his family. Attempts to contact (Hassoun) were completely unsuccessful," Morgan said. "The family couldn't give his whereabouts. . . . As far as the military is aware, we have no idea of his whereabouts."

Morgan said the corps has considered that Hassoun may have tried to flee the country but added they have no indication of that at this time. Given Hassoun's naturalized citizenship and family in Lebanon, "I would say that anything is possible at this point."

Nosseir said an attempt to flee his post would be out of character for Hassoun. Having had lunch with him over Christmas, Nosseir said Hassoun appeared upbeat and confident that he was going to prove his innocence in military court. Hassoun, Nosseir said, maintained that he was abducted by insurgents while in Iraq.

"I mean he could have disappeared a long time ago while he was in Lebanon, but he didn't," Nosseir said, adding Hassoun has always indicated his determination to prove his innocence against the charge of desertion.

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