US journalist Austin Tice vanished ten years ago, a week after Joe Biden called for his return. Syria has denied capturing him.
At the age of 31, the former US Marine was abducted in August 2012 while covering the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a freelance news outlet in Damascus.
His family thinks he is still detained in Syria and is still alive. Tice’s captors’ identities are unknown, and no one has taken responsibility for his kidnapping.
Following Biden’s claims from last week, the Syrian Foreign Ministry identified Tice as a US military member and refuted claims that the government was detaining him or any other US citizen.
The statement said that “these charges are without merit.”
Biden acknowledged knowing Tice was being held by the Bashar al-Assad regime on the day before his birthday and the 10th anniversary of his abduction.
The president referred to the journalist as “a son, a brother, and an investigative journalist who placed the truth above himself and went to Syria to expose the world the actual cost of war.”
“We are positive that the Syrian government has been holding him.”
We have pleaded with the Syrian authorities to assist us in bringing Austin home on several occasions.
I am requesting Syria to put a stop to this and assist us in bringing him home on the tenth anniversary of his kidnapping.
Tice, a freelance journalist who worked for a number of media outlets including CBS News, The Washington Post, and McClatchy, vanished at a checkpoint in a troubled region to the west of the Syrian capital Damascus.
Later, Assad’s kidnappers could be seen around him as he was blindfolded and upset in a video provided by his supporters.
Oh, Jesus, he could be heard saying.
Since then, he has not been seen again.
Officials, however, have indicated repeatedly that they think he is still alive.
James Jeffrey, the American ambassador to Syria at the time, said that he thought Tice was being kept captive but provided no further details.
Officials from the Trump administration went to Syria two years ago to try to obtain his release but came back empty handed. As long as American soldiers were present in the nation, officials in Damascus allegedly said that talks over any captives were impossible.
In an attempt to liberate Tice, Lebanese security authorities met with Biden administration representatives in May in Washington.
The missing journalist’s parents have maintained a search for him through ups and downs.
“I have never changed.” In a recent interview with CBS News, his mother Debra said, “I’m not wavering anymore.”
“There’s no reason not to think that he’s waiting, hoping, dreaming, and preparing to go free,” the author writes.