The family of a US journalist held captive in Syria for the last 12 years say they are “incredibly hopeful” that he can be returned safely to them amid the “chaos” following the fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime.
Austin Tice is thought to have been captured close to Damascus in August 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war.
The freelance journalist was 31 years old at the time.
His brother and sister told The World with Yalda Hakim on Sky News there had been a “hole in the family” ever since, but they had never given up hope of his return.
Now, with the fall of the Assad regime in the wake of a rebel uprising in Syria, Mr Tice’s family hopes the 43-year-old can finally be freed.
His sister, Abigail Edaburn, said the family have also recently received proof of life from trusted sources, while US President Joe Biden also recently said his administration believed Mr Tice was still alive.
Speaking to Yalda Hakim, the journalist’s brother Jacob Tice said: “We know that every effort is being extended right now to search for him throughout Syria, throughout Damascus.
“We know that there are people on the ground who love Austin. There are people who are committed to his return, and they are working tirelessly right now to bring him home.
“That gives us tremendous hope, tremendous optimism. And again, we implore anybody there who is listening, anybody who hears this to help bring Austin back to us, to help reunite him with his family.”
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The family said they were together on a family holiday when Mr Tice stopped responding to messages and they realised he had likely been captured.
“There is a hole in our family that has been present for 12 years at every Christmas, for every graduation, for all of our weddings, for the birth of my sister’s children, whom he has never met, all save one,” Jacob said.
“It is difficult to describe how that feels when, as we gather, to know that he is not seated at our table. And there is nothing we want more as a family than to have that hole filled and to see him back with us and have him take his seat at our table.”
Abigail was asked if the family had watched the rebel uprising and fall of the Assad regime with a sense of anxiousness about her brother.
She said: “It has been anxious, but it’s also been incredibly hopeful because we have seen these families being reunited.
“We’ve seen, so many families been made whole. And so we are incredibly hopeful that in this moment, that’s also what’s going to be happening with our family as well.”
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However, Jacob said that the family had not given up hope over the last 12 years.
“We have believed every day that Austin will be released. We have been confident every day that the time of his release is coming and that we would be reunited with him,” Jacob said.
“In this singular moment in Syrian history, I think the tenor around that hope has changed. I think the urgency for us as a family has increased because we know that in chaos there are opportunities for change, there are options to reset the status quo and to change the way that things have been.
“But in terms of the previous 12 years, yes, we have always believed every day that we will be reunited with our brother.”
On Sunday, the FBI said in a statement that a $1m (£780,000) reward was still on offer for information leading to Mr Tice’s “safe location, recovery and return”.
Speaking at the White House on Sunday, President Biden said his administration believed Mr Tice was still alive, but that they were trying to pinpoint his location in a country trying to find stability after the rapid fall of the Assad dynasty.
