The American journalist Austin Tice was kidnapped in Syria in May 2012, at age 31, while documenting the horrors of the brutal repression of Bashar al-Assad's regime. He was working as a freelancer for The Washington Post and the McClatchy media company, and was traveling through areas controlled by Syrian rebels. The last images of him show Austin blindfolded in a deserted area, and since then there has been no confirmation of his whereabouts.
Fourteen years have passed since the kidnapping, and his mother, Debra Tice, maintains the certainty that her son is still alive. She states that she never had the moment that other mothers had when they learned their loved ones would not return home, and that she has a very strong connection with God that makes her believe she will still see him.
Debra said that Austin disappeared before the emergence of terrifying videos from terrorist groups, and that there is no reason to believe he is not alive today. She assures that she has always maintained hope throughout these 14 years of absence.
