 A group of 13 female and African-American hostages were released in the weeks after the seizure and a seriously ill hostage was released in July 1980, leaving Morefield among the 52 American captives who would ultimately be held for 444 days.Morefield was one of a group of six Americans who was at first taken to a school in Teheran, where they were placed in a shower room and had rifles pointed at them, marking the first of three mock executions he would ultimately face.Returned to the embassy compound in December, Morefield was put in a windowless basement storage room that he had to share with eight other hostages, leaving him with only enough room to take two or three steps in any direction.