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A hostage rescue operator in Syria offered some holiday hope in the case of a missing American journalist, telling Fox News Digital that he believes Austin Tice is alive and hopes he is found soon.
While he declined to reveal sensitive details, Gray Bull Rescue’s Bryan Stern said he has intelligence that leads him to believe the 43-year-old Navy veteran and journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 is alive, or at least until recently.
“I would say 100%, I would bet he’s alive or at least two weeks ago,” Stern told Fox News Digital from his hotel room in Syria. “I’d bet he’s being cared for and cared for,” he continued.
“Furthermore I affirm that it can be found,” he continued. “We don’t recover dead bodies. I don’t mean we wouldn’t, but we’re a non-profit, we wouldn’t be putting resources into this, freezing to death, missing my fourth Christmas with my family, if I didn’t. Don’t you think was alive and could be found.”
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Stern has been scouring prisons looking for American journalist Austin Tice. (Bryan Stern/Grey Bull Rescue)
Stern has led high-level rescue missions in some of the most dangerous corners of the world, including Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Israel, Haiti, Lebanon and the US during natural disasters.
“We’ve done 12 jailbreaks from Russia” said Stern. “That’s 12 more than the CIA.”
The ousting of Bashar al-Assad and the subsequent takeover of Syria by HTS has offered the Biden administration and Tice’s family a renewed sense of hope that the journalist could be found.
“He could have died of a stomach bug three years ago. And we just don’t know. I don’t think that’s the case,” Stern said. “I have no reason to believe that is the case. There is not a single piece of information, circumstantial or otherwise, that indicates anything close to that. In fact, everything I have is against it.”
The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime during the early stages of the Syrian civil war, which eventually ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted. and fled to Moscow.
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Stern Stern has led high-level rescue missions in some of the most dangerous corners of the world. (Bryan Stern/Grey Bull Rescue)
The mood in Syria is “carefully happy” after decades of brutal oppression, according to Stern, and while the new HTS ruling force is “not deterred” from finding Tice, they are more concerned with learning how to govern than not to help. in research efforts.
The most likely scenario, according to Stern, is that Tice is being held in a house in a neighborhood, attended by pro-Assad Alawites, the same branch of Islam as the former leader. Many of the country’s prisons have been searched or emptied and the president is not believed Vladimir Putin would keep Tice in Russia.
“The relationship between Assad and Putin is very exaggerated. (Assad) has been there for two weeks and they haven’t even seen each other,” Stern said.
“The Russians are like we don’t need this problem, this is a great way to dump future President Trump, I mean who was obsessed with the Austin Tice case years ago.”
Investigators believe Tice escaped years ago, but was found in such a neighborhood in Damascus and thrown back into custody.
The State Department’s Office of Justice Rewards is offering a $10 million reward for any information leading to Tice’s finding, but Stern said he believes anyone with information is more motivated by loyalty. tribal than for the monetary reward.
The Gray Bull team has scoured prison records for Tice. (Bryan Stern/Grey Bull Rescue)
“Assad is living the good life in the Moscow tower. But make no mistake, he still has reach inside Syria,” Stern said. “Half of the new government were Assad boys last week.”
“That tribal nexus plus the fear that Bashar Assad could reach and touch the people who are still in Syria, why would they come forward?”
Another group working with Gray Bull claimed this week that they believe Tice is alive.
“We have data that Austin is alive until January 2024, but the president of the United States said in August that he is alive and we are confident that he is alive today,” Nizar Zakka, president of Hotage Aid Worldwide, said on Tuesday , according to multiple reports.
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“We’re trying to be as transparent as possible and share as much information as possible.”
Although Zakka offered little evidence to support his statements made at a press conference in Damascus It has been reported that he used an image to demonstrate the locations where Tice was held from November 2017 to February 2024.
US Hostage Aid Worldwide has engaged with Tice’s family and US authorities in the search for Tice, and the Biden administration has echoed a message of hope that Tice is alive, despite months of few words about his whereabouts.
