They came to Lebanon to gather information, not divulge it.
The mother and father of Austin Tice, the 31-year-old former US Marine and freelance journalist who went missing while in Syria in August, held a press conference in Beirut on Monday to appeal “to anyone and everyone who can put us into contact with our son,” as Debra Tice put it before a crowd of assembled reporters.
Debra Tice and her husband Mark, pressed repeatedly for details, spoke in generalities when discussing whom they’ve been talking to thus far to secure Austin’s release. In October, following the YouTube release of a video showing Tice, a US State Department spokeswoman said, “To the best of our knowledge, we think he is in Syrian government custody.”
Asked about why the State Department believed this and whether or not the family shared that opinion, Debra Tice told NOW, “We are seold_parate from State, and we have been very careful to avoid speculation. We do not know who is holding him, and so our mission here is to reach out to whoever it is, without trying to guess who that might be.”
His parents have set up a website to help in their search for their son and are encouraging anyone with information to contact them via information@austinticefamily.com.
Tice first entered Syria through Turkey in May. He entered illegally, and had initially planned to try going in through the porous northern border between Lebanon and Syria. He went missing on August 13, according to his parents. He had been in touch with NOW’s Ana Maria Luca and was planning to cross into Lebanon with anti-regime rebels. His parents said his last known location was Daraya, a town near Damascus.
He spent months writing freelance articles for mostly Western news outlets, such as The Washington Post and the McClatchy Company newspapers, among others. Tice had apparently built something of a friendship with the Syrian rebels with whom it seems he had embedded.
On August 11, Tice posted his last update to Twitter, two days before his parents last heard from him. On that day, he posted: “Spent the day at an FSA pool party with music by @taylorswift13. They even brought me whiskey. Hands down, best birthday ever.”
Asked by NOW if the rebels were helping secure his release, Debra Tice would only offer: “Well, of course, since he had been with them, they share our concern for his safety.”
Tice’s parents would not say whom they planned to meet in Beirut, with Debra Tice saying only, “We’re open.”
Repeatedly during a press conference, both of Tice’s parents said they were in Beirut “to reach out.” Mark Tice said they “have been in touch indirectly and directly with people in the Syrian government. They indicated they don’t know where Austin is.”
Speaking to the assembled press, Mark Tice said the goal of their mission in Beirut is to “make clear to whoever can hear this, we will do whatever we can do to get [Austin] back.”
Asked by a journalist if that meant willingness to pay a ransom, Mark Tice replied: “We have no idea what will be required and would like to know from whoever is holding him what we need to do.”
