After more than 4 months in captivity in rural Colombia, American citizen and former U.S.  Marine from North Carolina has been released.

Kevin Scott Sutay, who is in his late 20s, was turned over to Cuban and Norwegian officials along with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Guaviare, a state in the southeastern part of Colombia. Sutay had been traveling throughout Latin and South America as a tourist, and ignored the warnings of Colombian officials to avoid travel in a region known to be controlled by the FARC. 

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had said it would abandon kidnapping as a condition of the peace talks, facilitated by Cuba and Norway, between the rebel group and the Colombian government that began 11 months ago to end the internal conflict. The FARC had shown willingness to release Sutay in July but hardened its stance, accusing him of being a mercenary, soon after President Juan Manuel Santos refused to allow a high profile left-wing politician to oversee the liberation.

In a press statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, immediately thanked Colombia’s government in its “tireless efforts” in securing Sutay’s release. Reverend Jesse Jackson, met with rebel leaders in Cuba in late September and lobbied on behalf of the Afghanistan war veteran.

On Sunday, an International Committee of the Red Cross doctor said Sutay was in good physical condition to travel. According to their website, The ICRC has facilitated the release of 19 people held by armed groups in Colombia so far in 2013, and since 1994, it has served as a neutral intermediary in the release of over 1,500 people in the country.

It was not immediately clear if Sutay had flown on to the United States. According to WRAL, attempts by The Associated Press to locate relatives of Sutay after his capture were unsuccessful. His service record lists his hometown as Willow Spring, North Carolina.