WASHINGTON/DAMASCUS, SYRIA —
At a recent press conference in the Four Seasons Hotel in Syria’s capital, Damascus, Debra Tice made clear that she would never give up searching for her son, Austin.
A former U.S. Marine-turned-journalist, Austin Tice was detained at a checkpoint in Syria in 2012. Little has been heard or seen of him since, but he is believed to have been held in Damascus.
After the Bashar al-Assad government fell in December, U.S. officials made a few short visits to Syria, but Tice’s family said they had expected more.
Debra said she had hoped the U.S. government would send an official search team, but she wasn’t shocked that they didn’t.
“You can’t even believe it. It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Watch related report by Cristina Caicedo Smit and Liam Scott:
In the weeks after the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — known as HTS — overthrew the Assad government, hundreds of people were released from prisons run by the former government.
Scenes of families reuniting had raised hope among the Tice family. Just days before Assad fell, the family had convened in Washington to say they had received recent evidence confirming Tice was alive.
At the press conference on Monday, Debra said that she feels solidarity with the many Syrians who have had a family member disappear.
These families “understand the pain that we carry every day, that our families carry, that the nieces and nephews that have never met their uncles carry,” she said.
“For all the mothers whose sons were disappeared in these dungeons, our hearts are joined,” she said.
When Roger Carstens, the U.S. hostage envoy for the Biden and first Trump administration, visited Damascus in late December, he told reporters that U.S. officials weren’t able to be on the ground for extended periods of time to search for Tice.
Trump’s new nominee for the hostage envoy position is Adam Boehler, whose confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.
Watch related report by Cristina Caicedo Smit:
On the ground in Syria, the Washington-based nonprofit Hostage Aid Worldwide has been leading efforts to locate Tice.
Soon after Assad fell, the team began searching former prisons and buildings, including one that the group’s president, Nizar Zakka, described as a secret detention center.
The facility was dark and grimy. Like in previous prisons they inspected, they found documents, but no people.
“We are learning more and more about how the prison systems operate in Syria, how it was operating, how it was moving, who managed what,” Zakka told VOA after a search. “It’s going to take time to find Austin.”
In December, the U.S. State Department announced it was increasing its award to $10 million for information about Tice’s whereabouts.
“I understand the State Department, that they’re outside of Syria and they want to feel like they’re doing something,” Zakka said. But the increased reward has led to an increase in tips with unhelpful information, he said.
A State Department spokesperson told VOA that efforts to find Tice remain under way.
“We are working to get U.S. officials into Damascus for additional trips to help direct the search and will do so as soon as we confirm the conditions are safe and local authorities can accommodate the visit,” the spokesperson said in a Thursday statement.
Advocates say it feels as if the search for Tice has fallen on civil society groups, rather than the U.S. government.
“It definitely feels like that — that they’re standing back at this time,” according to Bill McCarren, the executive director at the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Center in Washington.
“There does need to be a more sustained effort,” said McCarren, who has worked on Tice’s case for years.
In Damascus, Tice’s mother said she was hopeful that the new Trump administration would help secure her son’s release.
“I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home,” she said. “His people have already reached out to me.”
While visiting the Syrian capital, she also met with Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“It was so wonderful to learn that they are dedicated and determined to bring home my son,” she said.
But for Zakka of Hostage Aid Worldwide, the Syrian transitional government is also making it harder for his organization to search for Tice. Soon after Assad fell, Zakka said his group had a lot of freedom.
But now, “there’s more restrictions every day,” Zakka said. “It’s getting difficult.”
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