Tiny Michigan village filled with 'pure joy' as Paul Whelan is released from Russia

Manchester's quaint downtown was abuzz Thursday with the news that Paul Whelan is coming home.

The former Marine, whose parents live in a farmhouse less than a mile from Main Street, was detained more than five years in Russia on charges of espionage that he and the U.S. government have said were fabricated.

"He's finally free," one man said as he paid the bill for his lunch at the Manchester Diner.

A woman holding a menu at a nearby table broke into a broad grin upon hearing the news that Whelan, the 54-year-old former global security chief for auto supplier BorgWarner, was released Thursday in a historic prisoner swap that included two other U.S. citizens, an American green card holder, five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were held as political prisoners in their own country.

Leslie Kirkland, 57, who owns the diner, said this small Washtenaw County village about 25 miles southwest of Ann Arbor was filled with "pure joy" Thursday. Whelan's parents, Rosemary and Edward Whelan, are regular customers. They've been distraught, she said, since their son's arrest in Moscow in December 2018.

"We have been here, supporting them, all this time," said Kirkland, pointing to the poster that hangs in her restaurant's window that says, "Team Free Paul Whelan." She recalled the countless conversations she has had over the years with Whelan's parents.

Some days, Edward and Rosemary Whelan would come into the restaurant and talk about their son and how he was faring at IK-17, a labor camp in the Russian province of Mordovia. Other times, they didn't want to talk about it.

"It really means a lot for the community because not only have we supported them, but they've supported us, you know?" Kirkland said. "They're always around town. They didn't hide themselves away. We have their posters up; there's the ribbons all over so we don't forget, and that kind of thing. Everyone's just so happy for them."

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Jack Coluccy, 18, works part time at Sharon Valley Bicycle Shoppe. He remembered helping years ago in the effort to tie yellow ribbons for Whelan to lampposts and tree trunks along Main Street so people would have a constant visual reminder of Manchester's stolen son.

"I saw a community post about it, and just went out and helped," he said. "No tourist inside a foreign country should be detained for espionage if their intentions were clearly to be there as a tourist. I am grateful that he's been released. I'm hoping to see him around here soon."

Whelan was in Russia to attend the wedding of a friend in late 2018 when he was arrested and accused of spying. He, his family, and the U.S. government denied the Kremlin's allegations, saying Whelan had been set up by the Russian government and was wrongfully detained. In June 2020, he was convicted in a closed-door trial in Moscow and sentenced to 16 years in a labor camp.

As Whelan's detention stretched from weeks to months and eventually to years, he lost his job as head of global security for auto suppler BorgWarner and his family had to let go of his apartment and store his belongings, his brother, David Whelan, told the Free Press in early 2020.

"He will come back to no job, no apartment, no income, you know? No health care. Everything will just be sort of completely shattered for him," David Whelan said at the time. "So we're going to try and just nurse as much of that as we can to make it last as long as possible because it would be terrible to come back and ... have just every part of your life destroyed."

Denise Collins, 64, of Manchester, burst into tears when she heard the news Thursday afternoon.

She was on the phone at her restaurant, Frank's Place, and told the person on other end of the line, "I'm going to have to call you back."

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she said: "His parents are the sweetest people ever, and you know, they're getting older. I'm so happy for them. The last time I saw them, I gave them a big hug and I said, 'I say prayers for you all the time.'

"They're the most wonderful people you have ever met. Five years! And he was held there for no reason whatsoever."

At Reed Barbering up the street, Terry Biegas, 64, of Brooklyn, snipped off the long pieces of a customer's hair Thursday and talked about how much the Whelan family's suffering has weighed on her mind.

Edward Whelan has sat in her barber chair in the past, telling her while she cut his hair that he and his wife stayed home every Saturday, hoping that their son would call.

"When you talk to the family members and you see what they're going through, it's really terrible," Biegas said. "The U.S. government couldn't get him out. The military hasn't been able to get him out. What do you do? You're helpless on this side. Who do you ask for help?

"They basically were staying home every Saturday for that one phone call."

Whelan was passed over in two other U.S. prisoner exchanges with Russia in recent years involving another former Marine, Trevor Reed, and women's basketball star Brittney Griner. Whelan, his family, and friends feared a deal to bring him home before the end of his 16-year sentence might never come to pass.

"I really never thought it was going to happen anytime soon," Kirkland said. "I've watched his parents get older in these last few years, and I thought, I hope they get to see him."

And now, they will.

Though Kirkland hasn't been able to talk with the Whelan family yet about details, she said she's planning a big party at the diner to celebrate his return to Michigan.

"Maybe not the entire community, but for friends, family, businesspeople that have supported them," she said. "We'll do something. Someone else had mentioned we should do a parade. So who knows what's going to happen, but I'm going to do something here soon with their permission."

Contact Kristen Shamus: [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Finally free,' Michigan village celebrates release of Paul Whelan from Russia