American journalist Austin Tice is still alive, more than 12 years after he was detained in Syria, his mother Debra Tice said Friday, citing a source vetted by the U.S. government.
“Austin is alive and being treated well, and I can tell you he is waiting to come home,” Debra told VOA. “We have a very reliable source that is totally verified.”
A Texas native and former U.S. Marine, Tice is an award-winning freelance journalist and photographer who works for outlets including The Washington Post, CBS and McClatchy.
Tice was detained at a checkpoint in Damascus in August 2012. Aside from a brief video after his capture, little has been seen or heard of him since.
“He is so ready. And he has known from the very first day that he was detained that he was going to walk free again,” Debra told VOA. “And so, we want to see him on the tarmac. We want to see that happen.”
Tice’s father Mark characterized the source as “unimpeachable” but said the family could not share more details because the intelligence was classified.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately reply to VOA’s request for comment.
The revelation comes as the Tice family met with White House officials on Friday to push for the U.S. government to do more to secure Austin’s release. The meeting occurred amid renewed clashes in Syria, as insurgent fighters who have already captured the northern city of Aleppo, one of the country’s largest, are pressing their march against President Bashar Assad’s forces.
At a press conference following the White House meeting, the Tice family criticized Biden administration officials for not providing any updates during their meeting.
Debra told VOA she hopes President Joe Biden uses his final weeks in the White House to do everything he can to secure her son’s release.
The family’s update comes the same week that President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would select Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. The former chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Boehler was a lead negotiator on the Abraham Accords.
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