Hostage envoy Roger Carstens traveled to Syria Friday, making the first known U.S. in-person contact with the caretaker government, and seeking help in finding missing American Austin Tice.

We should ask the militants who toppled Bashar al-Assad in Syria what became of missing U.S. reporter Austin Tice and why

We hold Bashar al-Assad and his criminal regime accountable for the consequences of Austin’s disappearance and the pain inflicted on his mother — pain, tears and separation," a spokesman told NBC News.

Nongovernmental workers and journalists have scoured prisons for clues about his fate in the absence of an official American presence in the country.

The mother of Austin Tice, who was taken captive in Syria in 2012, voiced hope that upheaval in the country will lead to freedom for her son.

There are no credible hints of his whereabouts, but also no clear evidence that he is dead, a U.S. official said.

In the 12 years since Austin Tice was abducted in Syria, his family and his coworkers at McClatchy have grieved at his absence, despaired at silence from the Syrian government and prayed that promises from three U.S. presidents would turn into actions that ...

The recent fall of the Assad regime has infused new hope in the search for Austin Tice, an American detained in Syria for a decade, as prisoners in jails across the country are released, Gustaf Kiland

US group Hostage Aid Worldwide says it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, but didn’t offer concrete information on his whereabouts.

Hundreds protest after Christmas tree burned • 25,000 return home from Turkiye • US believes missing journalist Austin

The Palestinian city of Bethlehem is preparing for a somber Christmas Eve under the shadow of war in Gaza, with most festivities cancelled and crowds of tourists absent Tuesday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.