Shannon Bauer Grateful To Have Her Brother Back Home

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - For 781 days Boulder's Shannon Bauer says she waited for this moment -- to be able to hug her brother.

Shane Bauer, along with Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd, were arrested in 2009 after hiking along the Iran-Iraq border. The Iran government charged Bauer and Fattal with spying. The two men always maintained their innocence.

For 26 months they were held in almost complete isolation in a Tehran prison, at times sharing a cell just about 100 square feet. In the two years they were gone they were given a total of 15 minutes to speak with family on the phone.

"You get a lot of time in two years to think about what you want from your relationships and your life and now we have the chance to do it," Shannon Bauer said. "At any point if I want to call him and he'll be there and I can see him, just knowing that's a possibility; that's huge."

Shannon Bauer says what's next for her brother is to have no plan. He's spending a lot of time with family and being grateful for that time.