Mother of missing US journalist optimistic Trump administration will help find son after 12 years: Video
The mother of missing US journalist Austin Tice, Debra Tice, has expressed optimism about renewed efforts to locate her son, who disappeared in Syria in 2012.
Speaking in Damascus on Monday, January 20, she expressed hope that the incoming US administration, led by President Donald Trump, would take active steps to locate her son.
"Today, January 20th, President Donald Trump will be sworn into office, and a page will be turned. I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home," she said.
Austin Tice, a freelance journalist for outlets including AFP, The Washington Post, and CBS, was detained at a checkpoint in Syria in August 2012 while covering the country's civil war.
Debra Tice also disclosed the initial outreach efforts by the new US administration.
"His people have already reached out to me. I haven't experienced that for the last four years, and so I'm very much looking forward to their help and involvement, and I think they're going to be quick at it," she said.
She added that Syria’s new leadership was also committed to finding her son, Austin. "I have been privileged to meet with the new leadership of Syria," she told journalists in Damascus after meeting Syria's newly appointed leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Last month, US officials reported that Syria’s new leadership had cooperated in the search for Austin Tice, including conducting investigations at key locations.
Roger Carstens, the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving Tice’s case during a recent visit to Damascus, marking the first by US officials since Syrian Islamist-led forces toppled former President Bashar al-Assad.
"We feel it's our duty as the US government to press on until we know with certainty what happened to him, where he is, and to bring him home," Carstens said.
