HOUSTON, Texas –Efforts to find a Houston journalist kidnapped in Syria, continue as activists and journalists appeal for increased U.S. involvement.
Austin Tice disappeared in August 2012 while reporting on Syria’s civil war.
Activists, Western journalists, and Syria’s militant leaders are conducting searches in abandoned prisons and combing through government files to find him.
Nizar Zakka, head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, has called for U.S. forces to aid in the complex search, which has yet to provide signs of Tice’s condition.
He emphasized the importance of early American involvement to preserve any remaining evidence.
The Biden administration’s reluctance to deploy specialized teams has drawn criticism, though the U.S. maintains a limited military presence aimed at containing Islamic State threats.
Austin Tice, a Marine Corps veteran turned freelance journalist, worked for McClatchy Newspapers and The Washington Post at his time of abduction.
A video released weeks later showed Tice blindfolded and led by armed captors, but further traces of him have faded.
U.S. officials suspect the Assad regime held Tice, though Syrian authorities have not confirmed this.
President Joe Biden recently stated the assumption that Tice is alive, yet no definitive proof supports this belief.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller indicated that sending a U.S. team to Damascus is under consideration, but no action has been taken.
Tice’s mother, Debra, expressed frustration at the lack of progress. She highlighted the need for willing participants in the search efforts and remains hopeful despite consistent obstacles.
