WASHINGTON and LONDON — A man seen in a video circulating online is believed to be Travis Pete Timmerman, an American who went missing from Hungary earlier this year, two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News.
One official said the United States government was able to make contact with the man after he was spotted in a short video circulating online. He said that it is offering support to him.
Timmerman, 29, has been missing since June 2, the date of his last contact, and disappeared while in Hungary, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol.
When his parents found out Timmerman was likely safe, they said they were in tears, “happy tears,” according to an interview with ABC News’ James Longman on Thursday.
“Well, it was great. I’m like, this is gonna be the best Christmas ever,” Richard Gardiner, Timmerman’s stepdad, said.
Travis Timmerman, a U.S. citizen who had entered Syria from Lebanon on a Christian pilgrimage and had been detained for several months, speaks with reporters in a house in Damascus on Dec. 12, 2024, after he was found in the village of Thihabiyeh east of the capital, after rebels toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad.
Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed on Thursday that the U.S. did not previously suspect that Timmerman was in Syria.
“I am not aware of any indication that we had — that this gentleman was in Syria,” Kirby said. “I want to remind that we are just getting word of this, and we’re trying to confirm his identity at this point.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about Timmerman while on a diplomatic mission to Turkey. He said he could not speak to the identity of the American found in Syria because of privacy concerns but that the U.S. was providing assistance.
“We’re working to bring him home — to bring him out of Syria and bring him home,” he said.
It wasn’t clear when and where the circulating video was taken, but the person speaking in Arabic to the camera identified the man as an American, according to a translation. The speaker was identified as a Syrian local.
In a separate video provided to ABC News, the man says his name is Travis and identifies himself as an American.
Police in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, published a statement in August seeking information about Timmerman, whom they said was missing.
“According to available data, the 29-year-old man was last seen at a church in District II and has since left for an unknown location, with no sign of life,” police said, according to a translation.
Travis Timmerman, a U.S. citizen who had entered Syria from Lebanon on a Christian pilgrimage and had been detained for several months, enters a car in Damascus, Dec. 12, 2024, after he was found in the village of Thihabiyeh east of the capital, after rebels toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad.
Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images
The Biden administration is tracking the cases of a handful of other Americans missing in Syria, including Austin Tice, a freelance journalist who was kidnapped in the country while on assignment in 2012.
On Thursday, Blinken said he had “no update” to share on Tice.
“We are working to find him and to bring him home, making sure that the word is out to everyone that this is a priority for the United States,” Blinken said.
Kirby also vowed that the Biden administration was still searching tirelessly for Tice.
“We’re concerned about finding out more about him, where he is, his condition,” he said.
“Would we like to have had more information in the last 40, 48, 72 hours? You betcha,” Kirby added. “And we’re working hard. We’re in touch with interlocutors and counterparts in and outside Syria to try to get as much information as we can.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
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Publish date : 2024-12-12 12:41:00
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