Debra Tice stated, “He is being cared for and he is well — we do know that.”
At an event following a meeting at the White House with national security officials, Debra and other family members discussed their hopes amid the troubled backdrop of Syria, where insurgent forces have captured Aleppo and continue their advancement against President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“The news we’re hearing from the Middle East is the kind of thing that can unsettle a mom,” she remarked, adding, “When I think about war, I never have a happy moment.”
Naomi Tice, Austin’s sister, mentioned that she inquired whether the current chaos could be exploited to facilitate her brother’s release. According to her, officials advised them to “wait and see how it pans out,” which she felt was a disappointing yet understandable response.
Marc Tice, Austin’s father, shared similar frustrations, indicating that recent discussions with White House and State Department representatives resulted in blame-shifting rather than actionable solutions. He noted, “We have seen what real commitment looks like. We’ve seen it in Russia. We’ve seen it in China, we’ve seen in Venezuela, we see it in Gaza,” referring to recent hostage releases in those regions. “And we’ve yet to see it for us.”
While he refrained from discussing the details of the information regarding Austin’s status, Marc expressed optimism. “We are confident that this information is fresh. It indicated as late as earlier this year that Austin is alive and being cared for. And we do hope to make as much of this public as we can.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that members of the Tice family held a meeting with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, although she couldn’t provide details of their conversation. “Austin Tice’s family, I can’t even imagine what they’re going through,” she acknowledged.
Austin Tice, originally from Houston, had his work published by renowned platforms like The Washington Post and McClatchy newspapers. He went missing in August 2012 at a checkpoint near Damascus, an area rife with conflict. A video emerged weeks later showing him blindfolded and in the custody of armed individuals, exclaiming, “Oh, Jesus.” Since then, there have been no confirmed updates about his whereabouts, and the Syrian government has publicly denied holding him.
In the latter months of the Trump administration, the U.S. government’s chief hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, along with Kash Patel, who is now Trump’s nominee for FBI leadership, conducted a covert visit to Damascus to gather information on Tice and other American citizens missing in Syria. This marked the highest-level dialogue in years between the U.S. and the Assad administration, albeit yielding no substantial information regarding Tice.
