This undated photo obtained from the family of Austin Tice, shows American freelance journalist Austin Tice, 31, who has been missing in Syria since mid-August, 2012.
Tuesday was the 1,000th day since journalist Austin Tice was abducted in Syria, Lesley Clark reported for McClatchyDC. Clark reported that White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest opened Tuesday’s press briefing with words about Tice.
“The United States government, working closely with our Czech protecting power in Syria, is trying to bring him home,” Earnest said. “And that is an effort that is ongoing and has been for some time, and certainly something that we are very focused on every day, but today we’re particularly mindful of this week being his 1,000th day in captivity.”
Earnest said he couldn’t say much about where the U.S. believes Tice is being held, or who is holding him, but said the U.S. is working with the Czech government to get information about him.
Tice, who went missing in Syria on Aug. 14, 2012, reported for news outlets including McClatchy and The Washington Post.
On Tuesday, Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra Tice, wrote about the 1,000th day on The Family of Austin Tice website.
Our son, Austin Tice, was working as a journalist near Damascus, in Syria, when he was taken captive on Tuesday, 14 August, 2012. We can hardly bear to realize Austin has now been disconnected from us for more than ONE THOUSAND DAYS. Each of those days has a story: of family and friends, of politics and pop culture and world events, joys and griefs which should have been shared with Austin. Instead, every day has been another day of searching and longing for his return so we can make our family whole again. We have desperately missed Austin for over 1,440,000 minutes – each new minute fuels our resolve to find him and bring him safely home.
In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Syria is the most deadly country in the world for journalists. In February, a group of news organizations joined to create a new set of safety guidelines for freelance journalists.
