The moms and dads of Austin Tice, the American freelance reporter and Marine Corps professional that was abducted while reporting in Syria greater than a years back, spoke up in a meeting with ABC Information Reside On Thursday as the united state functions to reveal their kid’s location after the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s tyrannical routine.
Debra and Marc Tice informed ABC Information’ Linsey Davis they are “confident” that their kid will certainly be back home quickly.
” We’re really feeling extremely confident. You understand, we’re making certain that our arms are heated up to obtain a huge hug,” Debra Tice stated in the meeting. “And we’re we’re simply we’re waiting and not precisely on pins and needles, yet simply extremely expectantly.”
Enjoy the complete meeting on ABCNews.com after 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12.
Marc Tice recommended that this is the very best hope they have actually had because their kid vanished in August 2012.
” We have actually constantly had hope and constantly been certain that our kid’s active and is mosting likely to come home to us,” he stated. “Yet this is various and it really feels far more instant and far more appealing than whenever in memory.”
Marc Tice stated that the household has actually been advising the united state to “relocate in the direction of a polite resolution” to bring Austin home for over a years and “that never ever actually occurred,” yet he included that this minute really feels “various.”
” Since there’s a brand-new authority in Damascus, whom I comprehend wants establishing great partnerships with the USA, it simply seems like a good time for whoever can assist Austin obtain home,” he stated.
Assistant of State Antony Blinken informed press reporters on Thursday that the united state is “identified to locate” Austin Tice and “functioning to earn” one more American in Syria. Blinken would certainly not validate the various other American’s name, mentioning “personal privacy factors.” His remarks came in the middle of records that the united state reached Travis Pete Timmerman, an American that went missing out on from Hungary previously in the year.
On Tuesday, State Division agent Matthew Miller informed press reporters the united state has actually asked rebel teams to look for Tice as they clear Assad routine jails in Syria.
” We do remain to think that [Austin Tice] lives and we remain to explain in all of our discussions, either with entities on the ground in Syria or with entities that might remain in interaction with those on the ground in Syria, that we have no greater top priority than the risk-free return of Austin Tice to his household,” Miller stated.
Tice, a Houston local, vanished in Aug. 2012 while reporting in Darayya– a suburban area of Syrian resources Damascus.
Freelance reporter Austin Tice went missing out on in Syria in 2012 and has actually not been spoken with because.
Ft Well Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune Information Solution by means of Getty Images, DATA
As Syria came down right into mayhem, with rebel teams taking control of the nation recently and at some point falling the despotic Assad routine on Dec. 8, the Tice household checked out the White Home on Dec. 6, where they consulted with National Safety and security Consultant Jake Sullivan.
Adhering to the conference, the Tice household introduced that they have actually touched with somebody that verified their kid’s condition.
” We have from a considerable resource that has actually currently been vetted around our federal government that Austin Tice lives, Austin Tice is dealt with well, and there is no question concerning that,” his mom Debra Tice stated throughout a Dec. 6 interview.
Asked by press reporters concerning the resource of the details, the Tices stated they can not share extra, asserting that the united state federal government is limiting the household from doing so for factors that they do not comprehend.
Nevertheless, his dad Marc Tice stated throughout journalism seminar that the household is “pursuing” making even more details public which the resource is “extremely various” from others that had actually offered the household incorrect hope in the past.” We are certain, because this details is fresh,” Marc Tice stated. “It shows as late as previously this year that Austin lives and being taken care of.”
Head of state Joe Biden dealt with united state initiatives to bring Austin Tice back home while delivering remarks on the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, informing press reporters that the united state thinks he is still active.
” We are conscious that there are Americans in Syria, consisting of those that live there, in addition to Austin Tice, that was captured greater than 12 years back,” Biden stated. “We continue to be dedicated to returning him to his household.”
The head of state kept in mind that the united state continues to be “dedicated” to bringing Tice home.
” We believe we can obtain him back, yet we have no straight proof of that yet. And Assad ought to be held liable,” Biden included.
Asked if the White Home has actually routed a procedure to fetch Tice, Biden stated, “we wish to obtain him out,” prior to keeping in mind that “we need to determine where he is.”
Asked just how his 6 brother or sisters are doing, Marc Tice informed Davis on Thursday that when Austin initially went missing he and his better half advised their youngsters to “maintain doing what you’re doing and seeking your interests,” yet they did not anticipate that their kid would certainly be missing out on for over 12 years.
” They ended up college, obtained brand-new work, obtained wed, had infants … it’s been a really heartbreaking yet additionally uplifting point to see,” Debra Tice stated.
As the household remained to defend Austin’s launch his brother or sisters “made a circle” and have actually been “looking after each various other,” she kept in mind.
Marc Tice (L) and Debra Tice (R)– the moms and dads of Austin Tice, a reporter that was abducted in Syria in 2012– are visualized throughout a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2024.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Ahead of Biden’s Dec. 8 speech, Tice’s brother or sisters Naomi and Jacob Tice consulted with ABC Information concerning their painful 12-year battle to obtain their sibling home and just how they really hope that the autumn of the Syrian routine can be a transforming factor.
” We did maintain hearing in the conferences that we were having that within mayhem there is chance. Which is actually just how we’re seeing this scenario,” Naomi Tice stated.
Jacob Tice contacted the united state to “make use of this single minute” to bring Austin back home.
” We’re bewildered and our arms are open,” he stated. “We are reaching to any individual and every person requesting for their aid, requesting for aid from individuals on the ground, from the media, from the White Home, from the State Division, to do what they can.”
Tice’s brother or sisters informed ABC Information that they are not completely pleased with the Biden management’s feedback thus far and got unclear solutions when they consulted with White Home authorities 2 days previously.
” We needed to know that they had a strategy in position. If they do, that’s certainly not something they showed to us,” Naomi Tice stated.
” If they do, we really hope Austin remains in the leading edge of those strategies,” Jacob Tice included.
Given that Austin Tice vanished, the united state federal government has actually constantly run under the presumption that he is still active, yet this idea is mainly based on an absence of proof of his fatality, instead of straight proof confirming he lives, several resources informed ABC Information.
The Syrian federal government has never ever openly recognized playing any kind of component in Tice’s loss. Nevertheless, throughout talks under the Trump management, Syrian authorities stated they would certainly supply evidence of life for the U.S meeting sweeping needs, according to authorities accustomed to the personal arrangements. The Trump management did not conform, and the Syrian federal government did not turn over any kind of details concerning Tice.
The FBI has actually provided a benefit of as much as $1 million for details resulting in the risk-free place, recuperation and return of Tice.
ABC Information’ Molly Nagle, Christopher Boccia and David Brennan added to this record.
