against. about to leave, he was reportedly pulled from the airplane by north korean authorities. his traveling companion and neighbor, bob hamrdla, a former stanford university official, telling abc news there has to be a terrible misunderstanding. i hope that the north koreans will see this as a humanitarian matter and allow him to return to his family as soon as possible. the state department issued a warning of reports that north korean authorities are arbitrarily detaining u.s. citizens and not allowing them to depart the country. newman would be the second american detained under the young leader kim jong un. missionary kenneth bay was grabbed last year. friends say merrill newman thought it would be a fun, interesting trip and even though they are not saying the u.s. government is certainly seeking ways to get him released and as you can imagine he's the talk of his retirement home. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. the fbi investigating