(DAMASCUS, Syria) — The parents of Austin Tice, the American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria more than a decade ago, spoke out in an interview with ABC News Live Prime on Thursday as the U.S. works to uncover their son’s whereabouts after the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s authoritarian regime.
Debra and Marc Tice told ABC News’ Linsey Davis they are “hopeful” that their son will be back home soon.
“We’re feeling very hopeful. You know, we’re making sure that our arms are warmed up to get a big hug,” Debra Tice said in the interview. “We’re waiting, and not exactly on pins and needles, but just very expectantly.”
Marc Tice suggested that this is the best hope they’ve had since their son disappeared in August 2012.
“We’ve always had hope and always been confident that our son’s alive and is going to come home to us,” he said. “But this is different and it feels much more immediate and much more promising than any time in memory.”
Marc Tice said that the family has been urging the U.S. to “move towards a diplomatic resolution” to bring Austin home for over a decade and “that never really took place,” but he added that this moment feels “different.”
“Now that there’s a new authority in Damascus, whom I understand is interested in developing good relationships with the United States, it just feels like a great time for whoever can help Austin get home,” he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. is “determined to find” Austin Tice and “working to bring home” another American in Syria. Blinken would not confirm the other American’s name, citing “privacy reasons.” His comments came amid reports that the U.S. made contact with Travis Pete Timmerman, an American who went missing from Hungary earlier in the year.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters the U.S. has asked rebel groups to search for Tice as they empty Assad regime prisons in Syria.
“We do continue to believe that [Austin Tice] is alive and we continue to make clear in all of our conversations, either with entities on the ground in Syria or with entities that may be in communication with those on the ground in Syria, that we have no higher priority than the safe return of Austin Tice to his family,” Miller said.
Tice, a Houston native, disappeared in Aug. 2012 while reporting in Darayya — a suburb of Syrian capital Damascus.
As Syria descended into chaos, with rebel groups taking over the country last week and eventually toppling the tyrannical Assad regime on Dec. 8, the Tice family visited the White House on Dec. 6, where they met with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Following the meeting, the Tice family announced that they have been in contact with someone who confirmed their son’s status.
“We have from a significant source that has already been vetted all over our government that Austin Tice is alive, Austin Tice is treated well, and there is no doubt about that,” his mother Debra Tice said during a Dec. 6 press conference.
Asked by reporters about the source of the information, the Tices said they could not share more, claiming that the U.S. government is restricting the family from doing so for reasons that they do not understand.
However, his father Marc Tice said during the press conference that the family is “working toward” making more information public and that the source is “very different” from others who had given the family false hope in the past.”We are confident, in that this information is fresh,” Marc Tice said. “It indicates as late as earlier this year that Austin is alive and being cared for.”
President Joe Biden addressed U.S. efforts to bring Austin Tice back home while delivering remarks on the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, telling reporters that the U.S. believes he is still alive.
“We are mindful that there are Americans in Syria, including those who reside there, as well as Austin Tice, who was taken captive more than 12 years ago,” Biden said. “We remain committed to returning him to his family.”
The president noted that the U.S. remains “committed” to bringing Tice home.
“We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet. And Assad should be held accountable,” Biden added.
Asked if the White House has directed an operation to retrieve Tice, Biden said, “we want to get him out,” before noting that “we have to identify where he is.”
Asked how his six siblings are doing, Marc Tice told Davis on Thursday that when Austin first went missing he and his wife urged their kids to “keep doing what you’re doing and pursuing your passions,” but they did not expect that their son would be missing for over 12 years.
“They finished university, got new jobs, got married, had babies … it’s been a very heartbreaking but also uplifting thing to see,” Debra Tice said.
As the family continued to fight for Austin’s release his siblings “made a circle” and have been “taking care of each other,” she noted.
Ahead of Biden’s Dec. 8 speech, Tice’s siblings Naomi and Jacob Tice spoke with ABC News about their agonizing 12-year fight to get their brother home and how they hope that the fall of the Syrian regime could be a turning point.
“We did keep hearing in the meetings that we were having that within chaos there is opportunity. And that is really how we’re viewing this situation,” Naomi Tice said.
Jacob Tice called on the U.S. to “take advantage of this singular moment” to bring Austin back home.
“We’re overwhelmed and our arms are open,” he said. “We are reaching to anyone and everyone asking for their help, asking for help from the people on the ground, from the media, from the White House, from the State Department, to do what they can.”
Tice’s siblings told ABC News that they are not fully satisfied with the Biden administration’s response so far and received vague answers when they met with White House officials two days earlier.
“We wanted to know that they had a plan in place. If they do, that’s definitely not something they shared with us,” Naomi Tice said.
“If they do, we hope Austin is in the forefront of those plans,” Jacob Tice added.
Since Austin Tice disappeared, the U.S. government has continuously operated under the assumption that he is still alive, but this belief is primarily founded on a lack of evidence of his death, rather than direct evidence proving he is alive, multiple sources told ABC News.
The Syrian government has never publicly acknowledged playing any part in Tice’s disappearance. However, during talks under the Trump administration, Syrian officials said they would provide proof of life in exchange for the U.S fulfilling sweeping demands, according to officials familiar with the private negotiations. The Trump administration did not comply, and the Syrian government did not hand over any information about Tice.
The FBI has offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the safe location, recovery and return of Tice.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Christopher Boccia and David Brennan contributed to this report.
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