Washington — The family of Austin TiceThe freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Syria more than 12 years ago, said that they have been told that he is alive and well, and that they are frustrated by the incompetence of the United States government United to bring home.
“We are from an important source that has already been investigated throughout our government, Austin Tice is alive, Austin Tice is being treated well. And there is no doubt about that,” said Debra Tice, his mother , at a press conference Friday at the National Press Club.
She said her son “is being cared for and is doing well.”
Tice, a Marine veteran and journalist who worked for several news organizations including CBS News, the Washington Post and McClatchy, disappeared on August 14, 2012, while reporting on the civil war Syria. A short video that surfaced weeks later on YouTube and Facebook showed Tice visibly distressed by his captors. This was the last time he was seen.
No one has ever claimed responsibility for his disappearance, but President Biden has said the US “knows for sure that he was held by the Syrian regime.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune news service via Getty Images
The family said the US government is restricting the release of information about the source of Austin Tice's well-being. But asked if her son was under the control of the Syrian government, Debra Tice said, “We always knew that.”
Marc Tice, his father, said the new information is “very different” from past guidelines.
“We are confident that this information is new. It shows how far it was earlier this year that Austin is alive and receiving care,” he said.
Debra Tice said the information is credible because “almost every agency in the United States government in terms of security has been tested.”
The missing journalist's parents and siblings traveled to Washington for meetings with government officials this week as Syrian rebel attack to challenge the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The family said the meeting has been in the works since July and was not prompted by the situation in Syria.
They met with the National Security Council, including Mr. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Friday before their press conference. They met with the State Department on Thursday.
The family said they asked if the offensive in Syria could be encouraged in favor of the journalist and begged Sullivan for a guarantee that Mr. Biden would reach out directly to Assad. But the family received no assurance, they said.
“There seems to be a huge disconnect between what President Biden has ordered Austin to do in terms of doing everything we can to bring him home, and then the actions and behavior of the people sitting right under him,” said his brother Simon. Tice said.
Debra Tice expressed hope that President-elect Donald Trump could have an impact on the issue when he takes office in January. She said Trump, in his first term, had an “obsession” with her son and bringing him home, but members of his administration put up roadblocks.
“Mike Pompeo and John Bolton did everything they could to keep that from happening,” she said of Trump's former secretary of state and national security adviser.
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