Valerie Watson finally made it home to Oklahoma, reunited with her kids today after a frightening two-week ordeal in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Her husband, Ryan, is still there in jail.

Just to get to hold my babies was something that I have been thinking about for a long time. Our goal is to get Ryan home because we can't be a family without dad.

The two shared their story last week before their first court hearing. They were stuck on the island. Their passports confiscated. The Watsons left for vacation April seventh, visiting Turks and Caicos Islands to celebrate Ryan and some friends' 40th birthday. When they went through security for their return flight, their carry on was flagged and searched. Officials found a ziploc bag of bullets.

They were hunting ammunition rounds that I use for white tell deer, and I recognized them, and I thought, Oh, man, what a bonehead mistake. I had no idea that those were in there.

They They were from a previous hunting trip. Police were called and they were taken into custody.

When I was like, Guys, I'm so sorry. This was a complete innocent mistake. I had no idea that they were in there. I would have never, ever intentionally brought. We came here to vacation. They, at that time, had referenced a law and told me that I was going to be looking at 12 years in prison.

When I heard that, I immediately was terrified because I I was like, We can't both be in prison for 12 years. We have kids at home. And this is such an innocent mistake that we didn't even know. We didn't even know it was there.

The two were charged with suspicion of possession of ammunition. After 11 days of waiting, charges against Valerie were dropped. In 2022, the Islands passed an amendment with stiffer penalties for possession of weapons or ammunition, increasing the mandatory a minimum prison sentence to 12 years. Last September, the US Embassy in the Bahamas issued a travel alert, warning Americans after a tourist from Indiana got an eight-month prison sentence for possession of ammunition.

I've been here for almost 70 days now after hosting bail. Right now, just waiting to go to the hearing that where my case would be heard, then following that would be sentencing.

Brian Hagerich was detained by Turks and Caicos authorities after a family vacation in February. January, when hunting ammunition was found in his luggage before he boarded a flight home.

I had no idea how it was there, but it was mine. It's a bag that I'd frequently use at home for hunting trips, weekend trips, et cetera.

Hagerich, a former professional baseball player who was drafted by the Florida Marlins, lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two young kids. He spent eight days in prison before posting bail and is awaiting a May third court hearing.

It's incredibly scary. You just don't know what the next day may bring. You're in a completely different culture, a different country by yourself. It's been the worst 70 days of my life.

The families are also dealing with a financial strain of paying for an extended stay and being cut off from their jobs.

This is something that we may never recover from.

We've already talked and we're like, What if we lose our house? We built a home that we thought was our forever home. To think that this is going to ruin us. This is... Yeah.

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