Washington – The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has raised hopes that more information could come to light about the whereabouts of journalist Austin Tice, who is believed to be still alive more than 12 years after his abduction.
After a rebel offensive ended the Assad family’s 50-year rule on Sunday, President Biden expressed optimism that Tice could be returned to the U.S.
“We think we can get it back, but we don’t have direct evidence of that yet.” Mr. Biden said Sunday at the White House. “We need to identify where it is.”
Tice, a Navy veteran and freelance journalist, disappeared on August 14, 2012, while reporting on the Syrian civil war. Weeks later, a brief video appeared online showing a distressed blindfolded Tice with his apparent captors. That was the last time they saw him.
While no one has ever claimed responsibility for his disappearance, Biden previously said the US knows “for a fact that he has been held by the Syrian regime.”
“We remain committed to returning him to his family,” Mr Biden said on Sunday.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said in an interview with “CBS mornings” Monday that the US has committed to its allies and others on the ground in Syria “to track who comes out of those prisons.”
“We are committed to reuniting Austin Tice with his family and we will work with people in Syria to make that happen,” Sullivan said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed Monday that the government’s top hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, is in neighboring Lebanon working on Tice’s case.
“He’s in Beirut to talk to people in the region, to talk to parties in the region, to gather information and to try to find out where Austin Tice is and get him home as quickly as possible,” Miller said.
CBS News has reached out to the Tice family for comment.
The Tice family says “a significant source” provided new details
Two days before rebels toppled the Assad regime, Tice’s parents and siblings asked Sullivan about his case in a meeting they said had been planned for months.
Debra Tice, his mother, he said at a press conference later in the day that “Austin Tice is alive” and “being cared for and doing well.” He said the information came from a “significant source” that had been vetted by the US government.
Marc Tice, his father, said the new information “is very different” from previous leads.
“We are confident that this information is fresh. It indicates until the beginning of the year that Austin is alive and being cared for,” he said.
But the family also said they are frustrated by the US government’s inability to bring him home and said they received few assurances about the Biden administration’s efforts.
“There seems to be a massive disconnect between what President Biden has dictated for Austin in terms of doing everything he can to bring him home, and then the actions and behavior of the people sitting right underneath his,” said his brother Simon. Tice said at the news conference.
The family also blamed the US government for preventing the release of information about the source of Austin Tice’s well-being.