The phone line at the US Embassy in Russia was not staffed on Saturday when the couple celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
The couple hasn't spoken on the phone in four months. Saturday was to be the day when the call finally came. The day ended without any contact, leaving Cherelle to wonder if Russian authorities had stopped the call.
On Monday, she said she learned from her wife's lawyers that she had tried to call 11 times over the course of several hours. The desk at the embassy where the phone rang was not staffed on Saturday.
I was really sad. I was injured. Cherelle Griner told The Associated Press in an interview that she was done and fed up and that an anniversary she had been looking forward to was instead spent in tears. I told the agent that I didn't want to speak to anyone. It's going to take me a while to let everyone know I'm unavailable. I just got knocked out by it. I'm not well.
The experience has made her even more angry with the U.S. government. The two-time Olympian's case is considered a top priority by the U.S. officials. Even though the call had been on the schedule for two weeks, no one warned her that it might be difficult because of the weekend.
The State Department was aware of the problem and was looking into it. The contact in the U.S. government apologized to Cherelle for the mistake. She said she has learned that the one number she was told to dial was usually used to process calls from prisoners on Mondays through Fridays.
The phone call had been scheduled for almost two weeks with a weekend date.
She said that she has no trust in the government. How can I trust you to negotiate on my wife's behalf if you can't catch a Saturday call? That's a lot more difficult than catching a Saturday call.
"At this point, it's starting to feel like a no, even though I'm still hoping to talk to or meet with the president," she said.
A search of her bag at the Russian airport turned up cannabis oil, which led to her being taken into custody.
Her case was moved under the supervision of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs after the State Department designated her as wrongly imprisoned. Tass reported last week that her confinement had been extended.
Cherelle has had to rely on other people's opinions about her wife's health. The basketball star's wife has not been able to speak with lawyers.
She went to sleep at 5 pm and woke up at midnight to find out that the call from Russia to Phoenix didn't come.
Cherelle said that this would have been the first time she could tell if she was ok. It would have been the first time in my life that I would hear her in real time and be able to know if she's okay or if she's dead.
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