When Saffrine Duggan took a snap of her family before school drop-off, she did not know it would become the last relic of her husband's freedom.

Tuesday marks three years in Australian prisons for ex-fighter pilot Daniel Duggan, who has been fighting extradition to the US after he was accused of unlawfully training Chinese military personnel.

In the photo, taken hours before his arrest in a regional town's supermarket car park, the father of six stands with his kids Hazel, Ginger and Jack, a cake in hand, as they prepare to go to the school fete.

"They all said goodbye expecting to see their dad at home in the afternoon," Ms Duggan told AAP.

"On the day that it happened, I thought it was a mistake.

"Three years down the track, it's been a gruelling nightmare ... we have had our whole

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