Missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the now-toppled Assad regime in Syria, according to newly uncovered intelligence obtained by the BBC.
The files are the first official evidence confirming that Tice was in regime custody, more than a decade after he disappeared.
Tice, a freelance reporter and former Marine, vanished near Damascus in August 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war. Although the US government has long believed he was held by Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syrian authorities repeatedly denied involvement, and no group ever publicly claimed responsibility.
The BBC reports that the intelligence, verified by both the broadcaster and Syrian law enforcement, includes documents marked "top secret" and testimony from former Syrian officials. One file shows that Tice was detained in a Damascus facility in 2012.
Multiple sources corroborated this, including a former senior intelligence officer who confirmed that Tice was held there by members of the pro-Assad National Defence Forces (NDF) until at least February 2013.
According to the BBC, Tice was arrested near the Damascus suburb of Darayya and held by the NDF, a paramilitary group created by Iran and loyal to Assad. Intelligence files indicate that he fell ill during detention and was seen by doctors multiple times, with medical records pointing to a viral infection.
At one point, Tice reportedly escaped his cell but was recaptured. He was interrogated at least twice by regime intelligence officials between late 2012 and early 2013, according to the files.
A former NDF member with knowledge of the case told the BBC that the regime viewed Tice as a valuable bargaining chip with Washington, which had severed ties with Damascus and imposed heavy sanctions at the start of the conflict.
Hopes of locating Tice had risen after rebels captured several detention sites during their December 2023 offensive, toppling Assad after over five decades of Baathist rule and releasing thousands of prisoners. However, Tice was not among those found.
Speculation surged when a US citizen, later identified as Travis Timmerman, was freed from a Syrian prison shortly after the regime fell. Some had initially believed he might be Tice. Former President Joe Biden had said Tice was "still alive", and the journalist's mother, Debra Tice, cited a "significant source" claiming her son was alive and being treated well.
She has continued to push for renewed efforts to locate him and met earlier this year with Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Last month, newly appointed US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced that Syria’s post-Assad leadership had agreed to assist in locating missing Americans, including Tice. The development came amid a thaw in US-Syria relations following the regime change.
President Donald Trump recently lifted decades-long sanctions on Syria, marking a major shift in policy. Barrack's appointment as envoy further signalled Washington’s recognition of Sharaa’s transitional government.
The US has outlined several demands for normalising relations, including disarming militias, combating extremism, and safeguarding minority rights. Trump has also expressed hope that Sharaa's government could build ties with Israel.
The war in Syria erupted after Assad’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in March 2011. Over half a million people have been killed, and large areas of the country remain devastated.
Human rights groups say more than 100,000 people disappeared in regime custody, and survivors have described the prisons as sites of torture, mass murder and systemic abuse.