VIDEO: 'Bring Us Home Safely'

Patrick Allocco——made an impassioned appeal to U.S. officials for help via his Facebook page late last week.

The page is not publically viewable, but Allocco, contacted by e-mail, provided the video to Patch as well.

"We've been sitting here—today i just got word that my dog of 15 years passed away," he says in the video. "I am asking you, the American people, and the government of the United States, to please intercede on our behalf and bring us home safely."

Allocco was detained in Angola after rapper Nas failed to show up for a concert he'd arranged. He's said he's secured the owed money, but local authorities and the promoter aren't making good on promises to free him and his son. They're not jailed and are staying in a hotel, but have not been allowed to leave the country.