Family says kidnapped U.S. journalist Austin Tice may be alive, possibly in Iran
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The family of missing American journalist Austin Tice on Sunday said they now believe he may still be alive and could have been transferred from Syria to Iran, as they renew calls for U.S. diplomatic pressure to secure his release.
Tice, a Houston native and former U.S. Marine whose reporting appeared in The Washington Post and McClatchy newspapers, disappeared on Aug. 14, 2012, at a checkpoint west of Damascus while covering the Syrian conflict. A video released shortly afterward showed him blindfolded and held by armed men.
Naomi Tice, Austin’s sister, said the family has obtained information suggesting he may be in the custody of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which she said managed some detention facilities in Syria during the rule of former Syrian president Bashar al‑Assad.
“Assad consistently said that he did not have Austin,” she said. “We also know that Iran managed some detention facilities in Syria, and that technicality could explain why he denied holding him.”
Following Assad’s fall in late 2024, searches of former regime detention centers in Syria did not reveal Tice’s whereabouts. The family now believes he may have been moved to Iran during or after the political transition.
The Tice family is urging U.S. officials to engage directly with Iranian authorities for information as part of broader regional negotiations. They are also calling on Washington to pressure Moscow to make Assad, now in exile in Russia, available for questioning by U.S. investigators.
In addition, they have asked for Israeli cooperation in questioning Khaled al‑Halibi, a former Syrian brigadier general under arrest in Austria on war crimes allegations, who was publicly identified by The New York Times as having acted as a double agent for Israel’s intelligence agency.
Jacob Tice, Austin’s brother, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should seek information from al-Halibi that could shed light on Austin’s detention or whereabouts.
In October 2025, CNN reported that a former Syrian general claimed Tice had been killed in 2013 while in detention. That account was not independently verified and was later disputed by individuals familiar with the case, adding to the long trail of conflicting information surrounding his disappearance.
Austin Tice is now considered the longest-missing U.S. journalist. His case has remained a focal point for press freedom advocates and U.S. officials for more than a decade, amid persistent uncertainty over his fate.