Bin Laden Hunter Headed Home to US From Pakistan

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Via AOL News - An American construction worker detained in Pakistan on a self-described solo mission to kill Osama bin Laden is on his way home. On June 13, police found Gary Faulkner of Greeley, Colo., roaming a forest in northern Pakistan armed with a pistol, a 3-foot-long sword and night-vision goggles. The 50-year-old American told them he was trying to find the al-Qaida chief and kill him. 

The office of family spokesman Stuart Crespin told AOL News today that Faulkner has been released without charges, and boarded a plane out of Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon. It's unclear whether he has a direct flight back to the U.S.

Faulkner's brother Scott told The Associated Pressthat he received a brief call Tuesday from Faulkner, who was using a U.S. diplomat's phone. He didn't indicate exactly when he would be coming home, but said "he couldn't wait to return to the good ol' U.S. of A," Scott Faulkner said.

A woman who answered the phone at Scott Faulkner's Fort Morgan, Colo., office told AOL News that he would have no further comment.

Another relative told AP he's not sure when Faulkner will return to Denver, but that it'll be in the coming days. The relative said Faulkner has been treated well by Pakistani authorities and is in good spirits.

Faulkner's siblings have previously described him as seriously ill with kidney problems, and in need of dialysis. His sister called him a "dying" man who wanted to do "one last thing for his country."

Ironically, it's the same condition bin Laden reportedly has. One of the mysteries surrounding the al-Qaida chief is how he manages to get dialysis in the remote mountainous terrain between Pakistan and Afghanistan where he's believed to be hiding.

Faulkner, who is unemployed, has been to Pakistan seven times. He was picked up by police in Pakistan's northern Chitral region earlier this month, on suspicion of trying to cross the border into Afghanistan illegally. He wasn't charged, but faced interrogation with intelligence officials.