Mom of Detained U.S Army Soldier Travis King Says 'I Just Want My Son Back'

“Get my son home and pray, pray that he comes back," Claudine Gates told reporters outside her home on Wednesday

The mother of the American soldier who was detained in North Korea after crossing into the country from South Korea says she wants her son to come home.

Pvt. Travis King is in North Korean custody after United Nations Command officials announced on Tuesday that he had run across the border "without authorization" this week. His mother, Claudine Gates, told WISN 12 News to ask people to pray for her son’s quick and safe return.

"I just want my son back. I just want my son back,” Gates told reporters from the outlet outside her home in Racine, Wisconsin on Wednesday. “Get my son home. Get my son home and pray, pray that he comes back," she said.

Earlier this week Gates spoke to ABC News about her son illegally crossing into North Korea, telling the outlet "I can't see Travis doing anything like that." She added that she had spoken to her son "a few days ago," at which point he told her he would soon be returning to the U.S. base in Fort Bliss.

Gates is among other relatives of the American soldier who are now struggling to understand what made him run across the border.

Related: U.S. Soldier Detained in North Korea After Allegedly Crossing the Border to Avoid Disciplinary Actions

Speaking to the Associated Press on Wednesday, King's maternal grandfather, Carl Gates, said, “I can’t see him doing that intentionally if he was in his right mind. Travis is a good guy. He wouldn’t do nothing to hurt nobody. And I can’t see him trying to hurt himself."

Myron Gates, King's uncle, echoed the confusion, telling the AP: “I don’t understand why he would do that, because it seemed like he was on his way back here to the United States. He was on his way home.” King's grandfather described him to the AP as "a nice, quiet guy," adding: “He doesn’t bother anybody. He keeps to himself."

King graduated from Park High School in Racine in 2020, School officials confirmed to WISN 12 News on Wednesday.

Various South Korean media outlets and the Associated Press report that King was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. after being imprisoned in South Korea for two months following assault charges stemming from an alleged physical altercation at a nightclub last September.

Related: Detained Soldier Travis King’s Loved Ones Don’t Understand Why He Fled South Korea: ‘He Was on His Way Home’

The AP reports that King was released from the South Korean prison on July 10 and was set to head to the U.S. to face further military disciplinary action (and, potentially, discharge from the Army).

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King was reportedly at the airport on Tuesday afternoon, where he was due to board a flight to a military base in Fort Bliss, ABC News reports. But at some point, it appears he left the building and joined a group of civilians who were on a tour of the nearby Joint Security Area, which separates North and South Korea and is known to be heavily guarded by soldiers from both sides.

That's when King left the tour group and ran across the border into North Korea, according to reports.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Tuesday that officials are "very early" in the process of determining what, exactly, happened, and that "there's a lot that we're still trying to learn."

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