Trey Yingst enters abandoned Syrian detention site in search for missing American journalist Austin Tice
The upheaval of the Syrian regime is igniting renewed hope for missing journalist Austin Tice and his family.
The former U.S. Marine and journalist was abducted 12 years ago while reporting in Daraya, a Damascus suburb. He was seen on a video released months after his capture wearing a black blindfold and has not been seen or heard from since.
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After receiving a tip from a U.S. intelligence source, Fox News' Trey Yingst headed to the National Security building in Damascus, Syria in search of any information on Tice – a detention site where the Assad regime held some of their "most important" prisoners, according to locals.
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After the fall of the Syrian regime, officials appeared to have vacated the building with haste and lit everything on fire to "destroy as much information as possible," according to Yingst.
Yingst explored the basement of the detention center, spaces which are commonly known in Syria to be used as jails. Yingst noted the chilling signs of "torture and horrific conditions" in the detention center, shining light on the urgency of the situation.
Some of the rooms within the building contained "detailed" prisoner logs for a "variety" of Syrian detention centers.
Yingst was able to recover "thousands" of prisoner cards, but was unable to find any information on Austin Tice.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently spoke to reporters on the matter, expressing that he wants to make sure the U.S. is doing "everything possible" to support the people and organizations that are working to find the "thousands" of disappeared people.
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"That includes, of course, the American journalist, Austin Tice. We're determined to find him and bring him home to his family and loved ones," Blinken said while speaking to reporters Thursday in Aqaba, Jordan.
Austin's sisters Naomi Tice and Meagan Tice Malone joined "America's Newsroom" in reaction to Blinken's comments, one saying that it was "incredibly frustrating" to hear him make rosy claims about the situation.
"Honestly, it's very frustrating to hear those words from Secretary Blinken because they have had no access to assistance, no access to aid," Meagan Tice said Friday.
"We don't know who to contact to receive these services. So hearing that message from Secretary Blinken was incredibly frustrating because we have seen no evidence of follow-through from that promise."
Sister Naomi Tice concluded by issuing a cry for help to both President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump for support in "bringing Austin home."
Fox News' Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.