The mother of American journalist Austin Tice said Monday that the incoming Trump administration has offered its support in finding her son, who went missing in Syria in 2012.
While Debra Tice did not present any new findings from her first visit to the country in a decade — and her first since the regime of Bashar al-Assad was swept from power — she told a media conference in Damascus she had renewed hope that fresh leadership in America and Syria would bolster the ongoing search efforts for her son.
“I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home,” Debra Tice said. “His people have already reached out to me. I haven’t experienced that for the last four years.”
Austin Tice, now 43, was one of the first American journalists to report on the Syrian civil war that began in 2011 before his disappearance in 2012. The State Department contended he was being held by the Syrian government. Former President Bashar al-Assad’s government vehemently denied the accusation.
Debra Tice last visited Syria in 2012 and 2015 to meet with the Syrian authorities, who never confirmed if her son was in their custody before they stopped granting her visas.
In December, U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens traveled to Lebanon to seek more information on Austin Tice’s whereabouts, according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge who spoke to NBC News. “We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet,” Biden told reporters.
At the time, Tice’s mother told “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” that she had received intel just before the Assad government’s collapse that her son was alive and being well taken care of, adding that it was only a matter of time until the family would be reunited.
There has been no clarity on Austin’s whereabouts since then, but the journalist’s mother on Monday told reporters that the Trump administration had already reached out to her to help.
“I look forward to working closely with his new team, including national security advisor Mike Waltz and Special Presidential Envoy Adam Boehler,” she said.
Tice’s media conference came a day after she met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of Syria’s new government and the rebel group that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad last month. She expressed that the new authorities can help uncover more information about Austin.
“During my time in Damascus, I have been privileged to meet with the new leadership of Syria. It was so wonderful to learn that they are dedicated and determined to bring home my son,” she said on Monday.
“He came here as a journalist to tell the story of the Syrian people to the world, and in the process, fell in love with his beautiful country,” Tice said, adding, “I have fallen in love with this beautiful country.”
While Tice’s visit coincided with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, about whom she had warm words, she has expressed contrasting opinions on the outgoing Biden administration in recent months for not negotiating hard enough for her son’s release.
Tice, who returns to the U.S. Tuesday, said she would “wait and pray and let the dust settle from all these page turns” for now.
