STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday regarding a Staten Island resident reportedly detained in Venezuela, a source familiar with the matter told the Advance/SILive.com.
James Luckey-Lange, 28, has been missing since early December, according to his family. At the time of his disappearance, he was traveling in South America.
The New York Times reported Luckey-Lange was detained by security forces while meeting local musicians shortly after he crossed into southern Venezuela from Brazil in December, a source familiar with the issue told the publication.
While it has been reported that Luckey-Lange is in the custody of Venezuela’s military counterintelligence, the State Department was unable to provide Malliotakis, a Republican representing Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, with information on Luckey-Lange’s whereabouts due to privacy protections, the source told the Advance/SILive.com.
It was the source’s belief that the department was speaking directly with the family of Luckey-Lange.
As of Friday afternoon, Luckey-Lange’s aunt, Abbie Luckey, has not heard from authorities on her nephew’s situation.
Luckey-Lange is reportedly among a handful of Americans recently detained by Venezuelan forces.
James Luckey-Lange, 28, a Staten Island resident, is being detained in Venezuela, according to reports.(Photo courtesy of Eva Aridjis-Fuentes)
While some of the detainees face legitimate criminal charges, Luckey-Lange is one of two detainees that the U.S. government was considering designating as wrongfully detained, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told the Times.
Among the arrested are three Venezuelan-American dual passport holders and two American citizens with no known ties to the country.
The latest news of Luckey-Lange’s whereabouts came on Monday, two days after U.S. armed forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on federal drug trafficking charges. Maduro, who calls himself the president of Venezuela, is not recognized by the U.S. as the country’s legitimate head of state.
Traveling abroad since 2022
Luckey-Lange is the son of musician Diane Luckey, who went by the stage name Q Lazzarus. Luckey was particularly known for her 1988 hit song “Goodbye Horses,” an iconic tune featured in the Oscar-winning film “The Silence of the Lambs.” Later in life, she worked as a Staten Island bus driver. Luckey died in 2022 at the age of 60.
Luckey-Lange had an interest in South America and decided to travel the continent after his mother’s death.
“He wanted to see the countryside and explore,” Abbie, Diane’s sister, previously told the Advance/SILive.com. “His mother, when he was a kid, had told him stories of how she loved Honduras when she went and so he decided to go and see what she was actually talking about.”
Luckey-Lange is not a citizen of any country in South America and the family does not have roots in Honduras, according to his 74-year-old aunt.
Last year, during Luckey-Lange’s trip, his father died.
Missing since December
Luckey-Lange traveled between several countries while on this trip, but still kept contact with his aunt. Every Sunday he would make sure to give her a call.
Abbie, a New Jersey resident, last spoke to her nephew on Dec. 8, 2025.
“And he had told me that he was preparing to come home,” said Abbie. “He was going into Caracas to get a flight out.”
As reported by the New York Times, it is unclear if Luckey-Lange had a visa to enter Venezuela.
The plan was for Luckey-Lange to join the rest of the family for a cruise just before Christmas. The trip is an annual tradition for the family and a way for them to honor Abbie’s mother, as well as Diane, whose birthday is in December.
“After we returned from the cruise we were all in shock because we knew something had happened to James,” Abbie explained. “Either he had injured himself while he was in the Amazon [jungle] or he was detained, so we started really getting worried.”
Abbie did not know anything regarding her nephew’s whereabouts until a New York Times reporter informed her of the possibility that he was being held in Venezuela.
“It’s very concerning to me because we don’t know who is going to take over the regime or take over the power there and what his thoughts are on American citizens,” Abbie told the Advance/SILive.com following the capture of Maduro. “So it’s very concerning, it’s really up in the air, we don’t know.”
“I want them [U.S. officials] to at least acknowledge that he’s there, let us know that they know that he is there and how are they proceeding in getting him home. And also, if he’s safe, where he is,” she added.