While the largest civilian prisoner swap in post-Soviet history was underway, Marc Fogel, an international teacher, called his older sister from a Russian prison Thursday morning, Aug. 1.

That was the moment Lisa Hyland knew her little brother, who turned 63 in a penal colony last week and has been imprisoned for nearly three years, would not be coming home.

“He was in Rybinsk,” Hyland said. “I knew he wasn’t on a plane headed for Turkey.”

Marc Fogel, who grew up in Butler, had heard rumors of a potential prisoner swap, and knew terms were being discussed between Russia and the United States, she said. What he didn’t know was it was already in progress.

Before Hyland could tell him he was not included in the exchange, her brother said seven words she repeated in slow, steady breaths over the phone.

“He said, ‘I know I’ll be left behind again.’”

When she confirmed he would not be coming home, Marc Fogel called the situation “soul crushing.”

“What do you say to that?” Hyland said. “I reassured him. I said, ‘We’re doing everything we can.’”

Hyland described the past few days — a blur of news reports, rumors and interview requests — as “a whirlwind.”

“It’s been 72 hours of hell,” she said. “Trying to figure out if Marc is coming home or not; learning he wasn’t coming home. To be honest, it’s just sort of numbing.”

On Wednesday morning, Anne Fogel, the youngest of Marc’s siblings, awoke in her home in Ovando, Mont., to an article sent by the family’s lawyer.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and other prisoners in Russia were missing, the article read.

“That's when we figured something was happening,” she said.

The family started making phone calls to U.S. senators, representatives and former ambassadors, urging lawmakers to advocate on Marc Fogel’s behalf to be included in a possible prisoner exchange.

“(Marc) is a four-and-a-half hour drive (away) from Moscow,” she said. “We thought that maybe they were just bringing him in last. We didn't know.”

When asked why she thinks her brother was not included in the prisoner swap that freed Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, she answered bluntly.

“He just doesn't have enough star power,” Anne Fogel said. “He's an ordinary guy.”

Sixteen people, including a 19-year-old, were released from Russian prisons Thursday in the multicountry deal involving U.S. allies such as Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia, according to a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In all, 24 prisoners were released.

Anne Fogel said Richard Verma, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, called her, Hyland and her sister-in-law Jane separately Thursday to tell them Marc was not included.

“This is really bitter,” Anne Fogel said.

Hyland had “already deduced” her brother wouldn’t be on the plane with Gershkovich and Whelan when Verma called to break the news.

“That was a pretty emotional discussion,” she said. “He just wanted to let us know Marc wasn’t going to come home on that particular airplane.”

She said she sent an email to Verma on Wednesday as rumors of a potential prisoner swap spread.

“You’re thinking, oh my gosh, maybe it can happen,” Hyland said. “And you don’t want to give up hope until the last minute.”

Meanwhile, in a press briefing Thursday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the State Department is continuing to work on securing Marc Fogel’s release.

“We’re going to build on it, drawing inspiration and continued courage from it for all those who were held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world,” Sullivan said Thursday. “And that includes Marc Fogel, who we are actively working to get his release from Russia as well.”

Anne Fogel said the family spoke with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan twice — once in 2022 and a second time in 2023. Since then, she said Sullivan has not updated or spoken to the family about her brother’s case.

“Jake Sullivan is making sounds like, you know, he wanted to tell me personally over NPR that … Marc is in his mind and thoughts, and that he's going to do everything he can, but that's what he told us three years ago,” Anne said.

If she could speak to Sullivan directly, she said she would tell him she feels “incredibly betrayed” by the U.S. government.

“It's such an absolutely horrible feeling to think that they don't have our back,” she said. “That Marc is out there alone in enemy territory.”

Anne Fogel said the State Department has requested Russia release Marc Fogel on humanitarian grounds. That “means absolutely nothing” to her, who said the country does not have a history of releasing prisoners on a humanitarian basis.

Behind bars, Marc Fogel has yet to be designated as wrongfully detained by the State Department, a designation Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva were all given. Without it, his 95-year-old mother, Malphine Fogel said she doubts her son will be considered in another prisoner swap.

Additionally, the legal status would ease the financial burden on the family in advocating on his behalf, bolster advocacy efforts and grant Marc Fogel medical access he desperately needs, Anne Fogel said.

“Jake Sullivan has mentioned Marc in the same sentence with wrongful detention, and they need to do that because he needs medical attention immediately,” she said.

“It would provide support for family members to go to Washington to advocate,” she said. “It would provide health services, mental health services for family members — which is a very, very much needed — as well as for Marc; medical aid for Marc, and mental health aid for Marc.”

Marc Fogel recently was discharged from a 21-day stay in a prison hospital, his mother said, and had been treated with injections without a translator. He suffers chronic back pain and had undergone knee surgeries, a rotator cuff surgery and a hip replacement before his arrest at the Sheremetyevo Airport on Aug. 14, 2021, for possessing less than an ounce of medical marijuana, which was prescribed by a doctor.

“This has been going on for so long, and we have been working so hard, but we don't have the NBA behind us, and we don't have the Wall Street Journal behind us writing about Marc every day,” Anne Fogel said in reference to Gershkovitz and basketball player Brittney Griner, whose case has drawn comparisons to her brother’s. Griner was designated as wrongfully detained and released as part of a prisoner exchange 10 months after her arrest.

“It’s been very difficult to keep (Marc) in people's minds,” Anne Fogel said. “It's a 24-hour-a-day job. I wake up thinking about it. I dream about it. It’s been a nightmare. It's a very unreal feeling.”

“I hope he can recover from this,” she said.

Hyland said she’s happy for the families of those who have been freed, but expressed dismay that her brother, a U.S. citizen, was left behind.

“It’s always, I’m sure, a very difficult choice,” Hyland said regarding the selection of prisoners in the multinational deal. “But there’s no consolation for, ‘Sorry, you didn’t make the cut,’ when we’re talking about life and death.”

Marc Fogel’s mother said she wasn’t contacted by any federal officials or the Department of State on the matter. Looking at pictures of the released prisoners, she said she tried to pick her son out from the group.

Ever since she learned he was not among the U.S. citizens released, Malphine Fogel said she has not been able to watch the news.

“I hoped against hope that he would be included,” she said. “And when I found out he was not I turned (the television) off.”

“We’re at the (Russians’) mercy,” Malphine Fogel said, urging that national attention on her son’s case must continue.

“I just hope it’s not too late,” she said.

On Friday, Reuters quoted President Joe Biden speaking with the media about Marc Fogel.

“We're not giving up on that,” he told reporters asking about the Butler native’s case.

When asked to be more specific, Biden replied, “You want me to tell you ahead of time so he doesn’t get out?”