Syria - Austin Tice, 31, American Journalist, kidnapped, Damascus, 14 Aug 2012

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Andrew Tice, a Marine Corps veteran, was abducted in Syria on Aug. 14, 2012. He was documenting the intensity of a then-young civil war as a journalist for McClatchy, the Washington Post, CBS News and others. No group has claimed responsibility for his abduction. A video released five weeks after his disappearance showed him alive, but there's been no official sign of him since.

Marc and Debra Tice, Austin's parents, have seven children but Austin is their oldest. They've made multiple trips to the Middle East; Debra even lived in Damascus for a time trying to secure his release.



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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/austin-...t-syria-parents-hopeful-no-doubt-he-is-alive/
https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/...ears-family-friends-havent-stopped-searching/
 
Where is Austin Tice? McClatchy marks 5-year anniversary of journalist’s disappearance
Five years to the day that journalist Austin Tice went missing covering the civil war in Syria, The McClatchy Co. raised a banner Monday outside its corporate headquarters at The Sacramento Bee to honor the kidnapped newsman and draw attention to his plight.

The banner, with a photo of Tice superimposed over the American flag, reads, “American Journalist Austin Tice” and notes that he has been “captive in Syria since August 2012.”
Click to expand...
 
Video at link.

Missing American reporter Austin Tice is believed to be alive, says U.S. official

The U.S. government strongly believes Austin Tice, a Marine-turned-reporter who vanished in Syria in the summer of 2012, is alive and being held captive in the war-torn Middle Eastern country, according to a senior State Department official.

"I want to make it very clear that the United States government believes Austin Tice is alive," U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert O'Brien told reporters on Tuesday. "We are deeply concerned about his well-being after six years of captivity."

[...]
 
His parents told reporters in Beirut that they have met U.S. officials including President Donald Trump and "they have each made a commitment to us that they're determined to bring Austin home safely."

His mother said they were recently contacted by a number of credible individuals "who have shared information about Austin," but she declined to elaborate.

Parents of US journalist missing in Syria hopeful about fate
 
Every day and night, Austin Tice looks out on Pennsylvania Avenue.

For almost three years, he has smiled from the banner that hangs on the Newseum, as if to say, "Hey, don't forget about me. I'm still out here, somewhere."

...SBM

But that daily reminder's days are numbered. The banner will stay up until at least the end of the year, when the museum will shut down and Johns Hopkins will take ownership of the building, according to Newseum spokesman Jonathan Thompson. After years of facing budget deficits, the Freedom Forum in January sold the building at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW to Johns Hopkins University.

Banner for a missing journalist that has hung on the Newseum since 2016 could disappear after this year
 
Debra Tice and Marc Tice are the parents of journalist Austin Tice, who has been detained in Syria since 2012. For more information, visit www.austinticefamily.com.

Thirty-eight years ago today, Aug. 11, after nine months of waiting, we finally had the great delight of meeting our firstborn, Austin Bennett Tice.

Today, we wish we could remind him of how glad we are he was born, how blessed we are to be his parents, how truly we believe the world is a better place for having him in it.

But we can’t do that; Austin is detained in Syria. We are not allowed any contact with him.

Today is his 2,554 day in detention.

Austin went to Syria in 2012. As a freelance journalist, he was there to cover the escalating conflict and raise awareness of the horrible consequences of urban warfare, especially for children.
Today, we are celebrating by announcing the launch of the “Ask About Austin” campaign.

Go to AskAboutAustinTice.org to send messages to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and your members of Congress. Add your signature to a petition to the U.S. government asking that all available diplomatic means be used to bring Austin safely home.
How many more birthdays will our journalist son, Austin Tice, spend captive in Syria?
 
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Debra Tice, mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in Syria five years ago, holds a dated portrait of him during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, July 20, 2017.
“In the event that Austin sees this interview, [we want him to know] that his mother and father love him very much and his siblings can’t wait to see him again,” Tice’s father, Marc Tice, told VOA. “We know he is strong and we know he will hang in there, and we can’t wait to hold him in our arms.”

“It doesn’t really matter who is holding him, the thing that really matters is who has the authority to secure his safe relief,” said his mother, Debra. “We know he is still alive; he is somewhere in Syria, most likely in Damascus or its whereabouts. He is staying alive because he wants to walk free.”

Dozens of Syrian and foreign journalists who went to Syria to document the war have been killed or injured over the years.

According to the World Press Freedom Index, Syria continues to be an “unbearable environment” for journalists, where the risk of arrest, abduction or death makes journalism “extremely dangerous” in the country.

The Syrian Center for Journalistic Freedoms said in its September report that since the Syrian uprising started in 2011, about 1,251 violations were committed against journalists. It claimed that half of these violations were committed by the Syrian government, while the Islamic State group seconded the regime in targeting journalists.
Parents of US Reporter Missing for 7 Years in Syria Still Await His Return
 

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JAN 28, 2020
Mother of US Journalist Missing in Syria Appeals to White House

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Debra Tice, the mother of missing journalist Austin Tice, addresses a press conference January 27, 2020 at the National Press Club. AFP

[...]

During a news conference to speak about her son Austin Tice,Debra said she believes the Syrian government was willing to speak with Washington since 2014 but that the US government failed to follow through.

[...]

The State Department said in response only that it is in fact working to secure Tice's release, AFP reported.

The photojournalist's mother said that during one of her visits to Syria in March 2014, she got "a message" from the Syrian government that it would only consider talks with "a US government official of appropriate title" and that she had been pressing Washington on this since that time to accept the offer.

[...]

Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson said Monday: "Recovering American hostages is a top priority for this Administration and President Trump continues to successfully secure the release of American hostages."

"We work tirelessly on each and every case of an American being held hostage abroad and we will continue to do so in the case of Austin Tice until he is back home with his family and loved ones," the spokesperson noted.
 
I think one of the strongest indicators that he could be alive is that he has disappeared so completely.

Jihadis know that western hostages are potentially very valuable for both ransom and political coercion. The selling of western hostages from one group to another is also common. This is especially so in Syria where ISIS offered significant amounts of cash for western hostages held by smaller Jihadi groups or free-lance bandit type groups. Kayla Mueller is said to have been sold to ISIS in this manner.

Though western hostages have been killed out of hand, this seems to be rare. Rather, murders of western hostages seem to have occurred after ransom and political extortion efforts were exhausted. Then factor in that Tice was said to have been taken by a pro government militia.

Pro government groups were probably, on average, better disciplined than rebel groups and less likely to kill a foreign hostage out of hand. Then factor in that while the Syrian government was probably not a big fan of western journalists, they had never shown a tendency to harm them either.

The last footage of Tice appears to show him in the hands of a foreign terror group (captors are dressed traditional Afghan clothes). This could indicate that reports of capture by pro government groups are incorrect, deception by the Syrian government, that he was later sold or exchanged to a jihadi group, or that he was in fact, captured by such a group.

The clothes worn by the captors are noted to be clean and pressed. They also repeatedly shout religious slogans. This could suggest they were in the process of making a formal execution video terror video, but no such video was ever released. Nor had the captors made any demands. This seems contrary to standard practice where demands are made and credit taken "Loud and "proud" " for any murders.
 
 
It’s been nine years since someone took Marine veteran Austin Tice hostage in Syria
By Todd South
Aug 13 2021
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''Marine veteran and freelance journalist Austin Tice has been missing in Syria since August 2012. (Family of Austin Tice/AP file)
This past Wednesday was Austin Tice’s 40th birthday. Saturday marks nine years that he has been held against his will in the Middle East.

The Marine veteran who’d returned to law school after multiple deployments had traveled to Syria in May 2012 to cover the civil war in that country as a freelance journalist. He wanted to tell the story of the conflict’s impact on the Syrian people.

On his way out of the country — he planned to leave for Lebanon Aug. 14 — he got into a car in the southern Damascus suburb of Darayya to make the trip, but shortly after leaving he was detained at a checkpoint, according to information provided by his family.

At that point, Tice disappeared.

It was not until five weeks later that a 43-second video titled “Austin Tice is Alive” was posted online showing him blindfolded and held by unidentified armed men.

To this day, nine years later, no one has claimed responsibility for his capture.''
 
Aug 11, 2021

Austin Tice still alive
Sep 26, 2012
 
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