AMERICAN journalist Austin Tice escaped from a Syrian hellhole prison in 2013 before he was snatched back by Assad’s henchmen, US officials have revealed.
Dressed in ragged clothing, Tice is said to have dodged between houses in the streets of Damascus in a bid to seek protection from a local after escaping captivity.
It was the first public sighting of the American after he was captured during a reporting trip to Syria in 2012.
The former Marine had managed to slip out of his cell, one current and three former US officials and a person with knowledge of the event told Reuters.
Tice is now the focus of a massive manhunt following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this week after 13 years of civil war.
The American has not yet been found and there are no credible hints of his whereabouts.
There is also no clear evidence that he is dead.
US officials believe it is likely that Tice was taken after his escape by forces who answered directly to Assad.
But over the years, the Syrian government has consistently denied holding him, complicating efforts to secure his release.
The US government, however, maintains that Tice is being held by Syria, and continues to press for his return.
They suggest that his escape from prison, where he was believed to have been held by a pro-government militia, is the strongest evidence the American government has to suggest that forces loyal to Assad held Tice.
When Tice escaped, he was spotted by people living in the Mazzeh neighborhood, wandering the street.
He entered the house of a well-known Syrian family, the name of which is being withheld for security reasons, a person familiar with the escape said.
US officials believe it is likely that Tice was taken after his escape by forces who answered directly to Assad.
One person with knowledge of the escape said Tice was potentially passed back and forth between several different government intelligence agencies in the following years.
Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for the Washington Post and McClatchy, was one of the first US journalists to make it into Syria after the outbreak of the civil war.
In August 2012, during fighting in Aleppo, he was taken captive.
Shortly after his disappearance in 2012, a harrowing video emerged showing Tice blindfolded and held by unidentified armed men and being forced to recite a prayer in broken Arabic.
He was led up a hill by armed men in what appeared to be Afghan garb and shouting “God is great” in an apparent bid to blame Islamist rebels for his capture.
There are varying accounts of what happened to Tice in 2012, including who initially took him and where he was moved. Other journalists were taken captive around the same time.
But as time passed and other reporters were freed, details about Tice remained scarce.
Over the years, Tice’s family, supported by various advocacy groups, has tirelessly campaigned for his release.
His parents, Debra and Marc Tice, have been outspoken in their efforts to keep Austin’s plight in the public eye and to urge the US government to intensify its efforts to bring him home.
In one of the many open letters his parents have published in The Washington Post, two years after his abduction they wrote, “Austin, please know that we love and miss you more than words can say.”
“God willing, you will be back to blow out the candles when you turn 34,” the letter read.
Their advocacy has included direct appeals to the highest levels of government, including a meeting with President Biden in May 2022.
During this meeting, both parents reportedly urged the administration to pursue a diplomatic engagement with the Syrian government for Austin’s safe return, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Just last Sunday, President Joe Biden said of Tice’s fate: “We believe he’s alive. We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet.”
Over the last 12 years, US intelligence agencies, including the FBI, the State Department and the CIA, have gathered thousands of tips about Tice.
However, most are nearly impossible to verify.
