"It’s a new beginning" - Missing journalist Austin Tice's mom speaks out after finding clue in Syrian prison

Austin Tice, a journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, is "alive" and being "treated well," his mother, Debra Tice, claims. The Marine veteran was taken hostage at a regime checkpoint under the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. He was 31 at the time, and was reporting on the Syrian civil war.

This Saturday, Debra made her way back to Damascus after almost a decade to search for clues that her son may be alive. The Guardian reports that Austin Tice is believed to be held captive by the government itself. The last footage to show him alive dates back to 2012, when he can be seen blindfolded as men force him to recite Islamic prayers. Visibly under duress, he could be heard exclaiming:

“Oh Jesus, oh Jesus. God.”

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus this Monday, she said:

“Today is going to be a new day for us, things are going to change … it’s like starting over again, it’s a new beginning after 8 December."

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All we know about Austin Tice's wellbeing as mother Debra Tice claims she is sure her son is alive and well

Reportedly, there are concerns about the footage being fabricated to make it look as though Austin Tice had been kidnapped by Islamist rebels, as the men in the footage were dressed in clothing native to Afghanistan as opposed to Syria.

Debra was accompanied by Nizar Zakka, the head of Hostage Aid Worldwide (HAW). A former hostage himself, Zakka said, as reported by The Guardian:

“You should see the way we enter these security branches, we invade them. “As a former hostage myself, I know where to look, where people might write information on the prison walls, where they keep the high-value hostages,” Zakka said.

The team has been combing through every clue, military intelligence, and even the homes of officials from the Syrian air force intelligence unit for the last six weeks, all of which was to no avail.

The Guardian has reported that the team is operating on the belief that Austin Tice, who would now be 43 years old, is being used as a bargaining chip by a prolific regime figure who wants to flee Syria.

“Today is going to be a new day for us, things are going to change … it’s like starting over again, it’s a new beginning after 8 December,” Debra Tice said at the Monday press conference.

There, she also lauded President Trump, confident that he would find a way to bring her son back home:

“I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home,” Debra Tice said. “His people have already reached out to me. I haven’t experienced that for the last four years.”

Debra went to Syria in 2012 and 2015, though after that, the government stopped issuing her visas. After Bashar al-Assad government collapsed in December, U.S. officials did go to Syria in search of the journalist, though Austin Tice's family said they needed more.

Debra claims to have been under the assumption that the government would deploy an official search and rescue team, but was shocked to learn that they didn't.

"You can't even believe it. It's heartbreaking," she said.

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At the time of writing, there no new information on Austin Tice. “Austin, if you can somehow hear this, I love you. I know you’re not giving up and neither am I,” Debra said on Monday.