After three weeks, a Baltimore mom is hoping to hear from her son in Libya.

Matthew VanDyke's mother takes comfort in knowing her son is familiar with tense moments.

Matthew has been arrested about 20 times already while traveling through the Middle East, and the Iraqis even put him through a mock execution.

Still, she's never gone three weeks without talking to him, so there is great concern about his safety.

Matthew rode his motorcycle through the Middle East when he started his travels back in 2007, so when the uprising began Matthew wanted to support his friends in Benghazi which is several hundred miles from the center of the civil war.

His mom and girlfriend called him often, but the last time they spoke was March 12th.

Matthew's girlfriend, Lauren Fischer, said "he told me they were going to Brega for the day and that they would be back in Benghazi that night or the next day."

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddaffi sent his men into Brega before he left. Matthew's mom, Sharon and Lauren track him through GPS, and the last message came on March 13th.

About 10 days later, an Arabic man answered Matthew's cell phone.

Sharon told us, "I said to the man on the phone, why do you have my son's cell phone? And he kept saying it wasn't his that I had dialed the wrong number," and "the last thing that this man said to me was I hope you find your son and then the phone went dead."

Matthew studied political science at UMBC, and wanted to see first-hand what he read.

As a freelance journalist, Matthew found stories in the war-torn countries that were published in newspapers across the world and right here in Baltimore.

Using Twitter, his mom and girlfriend have contacted journalists overseas for help.

They think he is in prison, and while the worrying continues, there's one thing they don't doubt.

"Oh I think he's alive. I haven't thought that he's not alive. I just hope that he's not being tortured," said VanDyke.

Matthew VanDyke had plans to write a book about the Middle East.

His mom and girlfriend hope he will make it back home to share what must be an incredible story.