About The Two Women Behind FreeRoss

In prison
In freedom

At the heart of the years-long FreeRoss campaign were two tenacious women: Lyn Ulbricht, Ross’s mother, and Caroline Ulbricht, his longtime fiancée and now wife.

Despite losing every appeal, despite every closed door, despite being told that Ross would never come home, they never gave up. They refused to listen to pessimism. Instead, they relentlessly pushed through every obstacle—even to the point of financial hardship or physical breakdown at times.

Ross would almost certainly still be in prison today if not for the herculean marathon these two women led for years.

Lyn Ulbricht

From the moment Ross was arrested, Lyn stepped forward to advocate for him. She started the FreeRoss campaign and became its public face, fearlessly speaking at conferences across the country, giving media interviews, raising funds for Ross’s defense, and connecting with anyone who might help. She turned into a super-networker and built a powerful rolodex of supporters and allies. With no technical background, she launched the first version of FreeRoss.org in 2013, as well as the FreeRoss social media accounts. From the get-go, Lyn’s public presence helped raise awareness and grow the campaign’s support base, especially among the crypto and liberty communities.

Caroline Ulbricht

It’s when Ross’s first appeal was brutally denied in 2017 that Caroline put aside her career in tech to team up with Lyn. Out of the public eye, she took the FreeRoss campaign to the next level, becoming instrumental in making strategic decisions, helping leverage Lyn’s connections, and reshaping the often-inaccurate narrative online. She became an expert on Ross’s case and a jack-of-all-trades: rebuilding and expanding FreeRoss.org, managing social media, creating materials for behind-the-scenes advocacy and networking, putting together extensive clemency packages for decision-makers, designing clemency ads seen by millions, and more. In May 2024, after President Trump pledged to free Ross if elected, she dedicated the following five months to campaigning and door-knocking in Arizona to help secure a win.

Over the years, Lyn and Caroline spent countless hours on strategy calls with attorneys and advocates, overcoming setbacks and juggling many moving parts at once.

Today, FreeRoss stands not only as a campaign to bring Ross Ulbricht home—it stands as a symbol of what love can achieve against all odds.

Lyn and Caroline’s journey is a testament to determination, courage, faith, and the unbreakable human spirit. Along the way, they met many people who lent their support. They are deeply grateful to each and every one of them, as well as to the many friends and supporters across the globe who spoke out against Ross’s sentence.