Biden says the US believes journalist Austin Tice is alive after disappearing in Syria in 2012

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the US government believes missing American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared near the Syrian capital 12 years ago, is still alive and that Washington is determined to bring him home. The deposition of Bashar Assad in Damascus.

“We think we can get him back,” Biden told reporters at the White House, while acknowledging that “we have no direct evidence” of his status. ‘Assad must be held accountable.’

Biden said officials still need to identify exactly where Tice is after his August 2012 disappearance at a checkpoint in a disputed area west of Damascus.

“We have remained committed to returning him to his family,” he said.

Tice, who is from Houston and whose work has been published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other media.

A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held down by armed men saying, “Oh, Jesus.” Nothing has been heard from him since. Syria has publicly denied this that it held him.

The United States has no new evidence that Tice is alive but continues to operate under the assumption that he is alive, a U.S. official said. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. will continue to work to identify where he is and try to bring him home.

His mother, Debra, said at a news conference in Washington on Friday that the family had information from a “major source,” whom she did not identify, that showed her son was alive.

“He is being cared for and doing well – we know that,” she said.

The Tice family met with officials from the State Department and the White House last week.

“To everyone in Syria hearing this, please remind people that we are waiting for Austin,” Debra Tice said in comments that hostage groups distributed on social media Sunday. “We know he’ll be quite dazed when he comes out & he will need a lot of care & direction. Please refer him to his family!’