On Thursday this week, a man was found walking barefoot in the village of Thihabiyeh, east of the capital Damascus in Syria. Soon after, a video appeared on social media. It was quickly picked up by several international news media. Many speculated whether the man in the video was journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing for over ten years. US authorities believe Tice was captured by the Assad regime near Damascus while covering the country’s civil war on August 14, 2012. He was last seen in a blindfolded video posted online a few weeks ago , according to the BBC. It quickly became clear that the barefoot man was someone else. Because in the video that was captured on Thursday, he introduces himself as “Travis” and says that he comes from Missouri in the United States. The man in the video is Pete Travis Timmerman. He is one of thousands of people who have been released this week from prisons around Syria in connection with the fall of the Assad regime. But neither the American authorities nor his family knew that Timmerman had been imprisoned in Syria. Missing in Budapest In May, Timmerman went on a pilgrimage in Eastern Europe to write and learn more about religion. When contact between him and his family suddenly ceased, Missouri authorities reported him missing in June. Hungarian police said he was last seen in a church in the country. This photo is from the Missouri State Highway Patrol showing Pete Travis Timmerman, who had been missing since June and turned up in Syria on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Photo: Missouri State Highway Patrol via AP / AP The U.S. Embassy in Hungary tracked him down after cards time for Lebanon. Timmerman’s mother, Stacey Collins Gardiner, says in an interview with NBC news that she had no idea which countries he was going to visit. – I had tears of joy in my eyes. It was a relief to find out he was still alive, because he is my baby, she says. Stacey Collins Gardiner holds a picture of her son, Travis Timmerman, at her home in the US. Photo: Nick Ingram / AP But the family had no idea that he had later ended up in Syria. When Timmerman decided to cross the border into Syria from Lebanon, he was stopped by Syrian border guards and arrested for entering the country without permission. – I was in prison for seven months in a building on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, he tells NBC news. Spiritual Purpose in Syria In December, Timmerman was released after two men armed with AK-47s beat down his prison door with a hammer. – I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare would be more active than it ended up being. When we first came out, there was no resistance, there was no real fight, says Timmerman to CBS news. Travis Timmerman was found in a village east of Damascus. Photo: ABDULAZIZ KETAZ / AFP According to Timmerman, he went to Syria for spiritual purposes. He says that his experience in prison “wasn’t that bad”. – I was never beaten. The real worst part was not being able to go to the bathroom when I wanted to. I was only let out three times a day to go to the bathroom, he says. Started going to Jordan When Timmerman left prison, he tried to go to Jordan. He says that he had a few moments of fear and that it had not occurred to him that he was free. – I haven’t thought about it. I’ve been more anxious about finding a place to sleep every night since then. So I’ve actually been working, he says. On the trip to Jordan, he asked several people for help and was not afraid to ask if he could sleep with other people. Travis Timmerman with Mosaed al-Rifai who found him in the Syrian desert, and the owner of the house where he sought refuge. Photo: Syrian Emergency Task Force / AP – I feel good. I have been fed and I have been given water, so I feel good, he says. Two American government sources tell the BBC that an American military helicopter flew Timmerman out of the country on Friday, after Syrian rebels from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group led him to American forces in the city of Tanf. Travis Timmerman along with a member of the US military and representatives of Syria’s transitional government and opposition activists near the border between Syria and Jordan on Friday 13 December 2024. Photo: Mouaz Moustafa / AP President Joe Biden believes that missing journalist Austin Tice is still alive, but his whereabouts are still unknown. Published 14.12.2024, at 16.07
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