The family of Austin Tice, the former Marine turned journalist who was kidnapped by jihadists while reporting in Syria in 2012, cited “key sources” they did not identify but said had been vetted by the U.S. government. and said he was still alive. Treated as trustworthy.
Tice, 43, is a captain in the Marine Corps and went to Syria as an independent journalist in May 2012 before his final year at Georgetown Law School.
The Texas native was covering events in Syria for McClatchy, the Washington Post and other news outlets reported, but he disappeared just days after turning 31. He was abducted while reporting on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. No one has claimed responsibility for his kidnapping.
Austin Tice: What you need to know about the missing American journalist in Syria
Debra Tice, mother of Austin Tice, speaks during a press conference to update the media on her eldest son's condition as his family continues to call for his release, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
“The information we received from key sources that are being scrutinized across the government is… , Austin Tice is alive.''
“He's being cared for and he's doing well. We know that,” Debra Tice said.
A video released weeks after his abduction showed him blindfolded and held down by armed men, saying, “Oh, Jesus.” The men in the video restrain Tice and blindfold him. They chanted “Allah Akbar” throughout the video and at one point forced him to recite a prayer in broken Arabic.
Since then, we have not heard from each other.
Syria has publicly denied detaining him. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Theis' family Friday afternoon.
“Jake Sullivan met with the family of Austin Tice this afternoon, and…Jake Sullivan meets regularly with the families of Americans who have been wrongfully detained,” she said. “We will continue to work to return unjustly detained Americans and Americans to their families.”
The parents of Syrian journalist Austin Tice, Mark Tice (left) and Debra Tice, speak about their son's condition as they continue to call for his release at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington. Provides the latest information to the media. Friday. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
“Austin Tice's family, I can't even imagine what they're going through,” she added.
The talks took place amid continued turmoil in Syria as rebel fighters, who have already captured Aleppo, Syria's largest northern city, are marching against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Biden says he knows with 'certainty' that American journalist Austin Tice is being held in Syria
Austin Tice's sister, Naomi, said she asked authorities if there was a way to use the disturbance to secure Austin's freedom. “We were basically just told we needed to wait and see.” That reaction may have been “understandable,” she said, but it went “beyond frustration.”
Tice's father, Mark, said he believed the information was new. He said indications as of earlier this year were that Austin was alive and being cared for.
“And we want to get this out as public as possible,” he said.
He was frustrated that state authorities had secured the release of other American hostages in recent months.
“We've seen what real commitment looks like. We've seen it in Russia, we've seen it in China, we've seen it in Venezuela, we've seen it in Gaza,” he said, referring to hostage locations. It was released in the last few months. “And we haven’t seen it yet.”
In August 2020, President Biden called on Syria to release Tais, saying the US government knows with “certainty” that he is being held by the Syrian regime.
In June 2017, the New York Times reported that then-CIA Director and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contacted Syrian government officials to secure Tice's release. But the back channel was shut down after Syria launched a nerve gas attack on rebel-held areas in the country's north. The Trump administration responded with missile strikes, and negotiations broke down.
In April 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offered a $1 million reward for “information directly leading to the safe location, recovery, or return” of the former Marine.
Secretary Pompeo told media members in September 2019 that he urged the Syrian government to release Tice and other American hostages held in Syria.
In the final months of the Trump administration, two U.S. officials—Roger Carstens, the government's top hostage negotiator, and Kash Patel, Trump's nominee to head the FBI—said Tice and others made a secret visit to Damascus in search of information about the hostages. He went missing in Syria.
Freelance journalist Austin Tice went missing in Syria in 2012 and has not been heard from since. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Debra Theis said President-elect Trump had an “obsession” with her son the last time he took office and took him home.
“He's already in his head. He's already ready to take him home,” she said Friday of President Trump, according to the Washington Post.
“No matter how you feel, this mom has really good feelings for the people who take care of her child. I'll take that from anyone.”
FOX News' Nick Gibas, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
