Timothy Timmerman, an American citizen, was released in Syria last Thursday after being detained by the Bashar al-Assad regime for seven months. He stated that he had entered the country on foot as part of a Christian pilgrimage.
Travis Timmerman was first seen in video that emerged online Thursday after rebels seized the capital Damascus and overthrew Assad over the weekend.
Upon his release, a video showed Timmerman, with a beard, lying on a mattress under a blanket in what seemed to be a private residence. The video also included men assuring that he was being well taken care of and would soon be safely reunited with his family, according to The Associated Press.
Initially, some viewers confused Timmerman with Austin Tice, an American journalist and Marine veteran who went missing in Syria 12 years ago. However, Tice’s whereabouts are still unknown as of Thursday, although U.S. authorities believe he is still alive.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration sent the U.S. government’s top hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, to Lebanon earlier this week in hopes of collecting information on the whereabouts of Tice.
The State Department’s Reward for Justice program is offering $10 million for information relating to locating Austin Tice. (The State Department’s Reward for Justice)
Tice was detained in Damascus in August 2012 while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime, which marked the early stages of the Syrian civil war.
Tice was last seen in video that emerged weeks after his disappearance, showing him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying, “Oh, Jesus.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
