President Joe Biden gave a promising update on journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012.
“We believe he’s alive,” the president told reporters on Sunday.
“We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet,” he continued.
The president’s comments come on the heels of an effort by opposition forces in Syria that ousted the nation’s President Bashar al-Assad. Assad has since fled the country for Russia.
Thousands of prisoners have poured out onto the streets of Syria once rebels took control, having been emancipated from the nation’s vast and lucrative detention system. Many of these political prisoners are now being reunited with their families.
The United States has long said it believed Tice was being held captive by Assad’s regime, an accusation the Syrian government repeatedly denied.
Still, the Biden administration, sources told the New York Times, has “engaged extensively” to try and bring Tice home by directly contacting Syrian officials and working through third parties.
Despite having vanished 12 years ago, both the U.S. government and the American journalist’s family believe he is alive.
On Friday, the Tice family met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, after which they announced a “a significant source” had told them “Austin Tice is alive, Austin Tice is treated well.”
“We are confident in that this information is fresh,” Tice’s father added. “It indicates as late as earlier this year that Austin is alive and being cared for.”
While the journalist’s whereabouts remain unknown, Biden reiterated that he and his administration “remain committed to returning him to his family.”
The FBI has since offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to Tice’s safe location, recovery, and return.
