Where Is Austin Tice?

Thousands of political prisoners have been freed in Syria since the fall of Bashar Assad, but there's still no sign of Austin Tice. The American journalist was taken prisoner in 2012 while reporting on Syria's civil war, and his family is holding out hope he remains alive. The latest:

• Who he is: Tice is a Houston native and former Marine who was captured in Syria at age 31; he's 43 now. The freelance journalist's work had appeared in the McClatchy newspapers and the Washington Post, which describes him as a "gritty and determined journalist" who set out to tell the story of Syrian civilians in the war.

• Capture: The circumstances of Tice's capture in 2012 remain "murky," per the New York Times, but video soon emerged of him surrounded by armed captors as he muttered, "Oh, Jesus." It's not clear who the captors were, but Tice is believed to have ended up in the hands of the Syrian government.
• A 2022 sighting? Assad's regime never confirmed it was holding Tice, but the US obtained a judicial document suggesting otherwise. A former Syrian captive told the UK Times this week he saw Tice in a Damascus prison in 2022. Tice looked thin but didn't appear to have any serious medical issues, said Saher al-Ahmad. He said Tice was being held in solitary confinement, adding that the guards called him "Ossi" because it was easier to pronounce.
• His fate: Tice's six siblings and parents say they believe he is alive, and President Biden has publicly buttressed that hope. But the Post reports that the CIA has "low confidence" it's true. "I'm sorry to say that in reality I fear that he was liquidated on the ground as the regime collapsed," says the former fellow prisoner mentioned above.
• The search: The main rebel group now running Syria—Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS—has offered to cooperate with the US in the hunt for Tice. "We hold Bashar al-Assad and his criminal regime accountable for the consequences of Austin's disappearance and the pain inflicted on his mother," said a spokesman, per NBC News. The US considers HTS a terrorist group and has been communicating indirectly. So far, the US has opted not to take the risky move of sending in US forces in the search.

(More Austin Tice stories.)