Mother of missing journalist Austin Tice says Trump team offered help in search

The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice has made her first visit to Syria in almost a decade, saying that the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump has offered support to help find her son.

Debra Tice made the remarks at a news conference in Damascus during her first visit to the country since insurgents toppled President Bashar Assad last month.

She did not present any new findings in the ongoing search.

Austin Tice disappeared near the Syrian capital in 2012, and has not been heard from since then apart from a video released weeks later that showed him blindfolded and held by armed men.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to have gone missing in Syria since 2011, when countrywide protests against Mr Assad spiralled into a devastating civil war.

Ms Tice said: “I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home.

“His people have already reached out to me. I haven’t experienced that for the last four years.”

Syria’s former government had publicly denied that it was holding her son, but Ms Tice hopes she will find him with the help of the new leadership.

In December, she said the family had information from an unidentified source that her son was alive and well. She said on Monday she still believes he is alive and in good health.

Ms Tice said she had a productive meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria’s new administration, who she said was “dedicated and determined” to bring back Austin and others who have gone missing in the country.

She also visited two military intelligence prisons in Syria, known for their mass incarceration and systematic use of torture, which she described as an “unbelievably, horrible nightmare”.

Mr Tice, who is from Houston, has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets.