Joel Shannon and Gordon Rago

York (Pa.) Daily Record

Caitlan Coleman and her husband Joshua Boyle arrived in Canada late Friday, about five years after they were captured by a Taliban-linked extremist network in Afghanistan.

Coleman was pregnant at the time they were abducted and gave birth to four children while in captivity. Boyle said the Haqqani network killed his infant daughter and raped Coleman during their capture.

Here's what we know about why the couple was in Afghanistan to begin with:

They were attracted to under-developed regions

The couple set off in the summer of 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.

"They were interested in cultures that are under-developed," said Caitlan's mother, Lyn Coleman, in 2014.

Read more:Ex-hostage: Taliban-linked group killed my infant daughter, raped my wife

Read more:What's ahead for family released by militants after 5 years’ captivity?

They didn't travel like typical tourists. They avoided staying in hotels and visiting mainstream attractions while abroad. Josh was quoted by his mother as saying, "Nowhere is too far to walk if you have enough time."

The previous year, shortly after they got married, Caitlan and Joshua went to Guatemala for a four-month hiking trip, Caitlan's mother said.

Going to Afghanistan was not their original plan

The trip to Afghanistan was not on the couple's original itinerary, according to Sarah Flood, who was close friends with Coleman.

Jim Coleman, Caitlan's father, said in 2014 that while they were in central Asia, the couple met people who spoke highly of Afghanistan.

"They met one or two people who said Afghanistan was the most beautiful country and that it was relatively safe because U.S. forces were there," he said.

Flood said that before Coleman left, she supported the idea of her friend going because she had recently been to Ukraine for 10 days, where she helped provide medical treatment in and around Kiev during the summer of 2010.

"The idea of going to a country and being helpful is something we absolutely shared," Flood said.

Read more:Caitlan Coleman's father questions why Joshua Boyle took pregnant wife to Afghanistan

Read more:American Caitlan Coleman, family leave Pakistan after being held by militants for five years

Flood said she was unaware her friend was pregnant at the time she left.

The 2012 trip was mostly Boyle's idea, but one that Coleman came to support and started looking forward to, despite her passion to settle down in the United States and start a family.

When Flood learned her friend was pregnant, she became upset the couple would risk traveling into dangerous territory.

Trust and optimism

In 2014, when there were no clear signs for a motive for their being held, officials said the mere fact they were Westerners in hostile territory may have been reason enough.

"They really and truly believed that if people were loved and treated with respect that that would be given back to them in kind," said Linda Boyle, Boyle's mother.

"So as odd it as it may seem to us that they were there, they truly believed with all their heart that if they treated people properly, they would be treated properly."