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The parents of Austin Tice, a U.S. journalist believed to be in captivity in Syria, made an appeal for the release of their son on Monday (October 12).
Thirty-one-year-old Tice, a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, disappeared in Syria in August.
In October the U.S. State Department said it believed Tice was alive and being held by the Syrian government.
Marc and Debra Tice have travelled to Beirut to work on securing the return of their son.
"We are the parents of Austin Tice a journalist who was last working in Syria and with whom we've had no contact since August 13. We are here today to appeal for information about Austin. Is he well? How can we contact him? And how can we return him to our family? If anyone who hears this has any information about Austin and especially what we can do to bring him home, please contact us," Tice's father Marc Tice said at a news conference in the Lebanese capital.
"We ask whomever is holding Austin to please treat him well, keep him safe, and return him to us as soon as you can," added Marc Tice.
A shaky, 47-second video surfaced in October that appeared to show Austin Tice, blindfolded and being led by a group of masked men up a rocky pathway.
The State Department could not confirm it was Tice in the video, or whether the scene was authentic or had been staged.
