OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - The founder of a rescue group helping search for Camp Pendleton-trained Marine veteran Austin Tice in Syria says he’s hopeful Tice can be found.
“It's never been this urgent in the history of the case,” said Bryan Stern, an Army and Navy veteran and founder of Tampa-based Grey Bull Rescue Foundation.
He says an undisclosed number of his team has been on the ground in Syria, searching for Austin Tice since the fall of the Assad regime, more than a week and a half ago. His group has been in and out of Syria for many years gathering intelligence on Austin.
“My number one concern right now is that he's locked in a cage somewhere, and that cage, which previously has been serviced … meaning people bring him food, people bring him water … wherever he is, he’s been abandoned,” said Stern.
In 2012, Austin, a freelance journalist and former Marine captain who trained at Camp Pendleton, was abducted while reporting in Syria on an uprising against Assad.
A video released soon after his abduction, showed a blindfolded Tice held by armed men.
It's believed Austin was alive weeks ago, and was behind held in Damascus by Syria, though Assad's regime denied it.
After the fall of the Assad, prisons have been emptied.
Stern sent us video of him at one of the prisons, as he and others sifted through countless records, trying to learn the fate of prisoners.
In one photo, a hole was dug in the floor of the prison, as rescuers searched for hidden cells, but there was no sign of Austin. Stern doesn't believe he was ever in a prison.
“More like a house or private ranch kind of compound that's privately owned, for sure. He’s a secret prisoner, which means you don't put him with the other prisoners.
Stern says they've searched locations and are gathering intelligence to find those who may have guarded Austin.
When Austin's sister, Naomi, spoke to me last week, she called upon US officials to approach Assad.
“We believe that he has known where Austin is this entire time,” Naomi Tice said in the interview.
At the same time, Austin's mother wrote a letter to Russian president Vladmir Putin. At a press conference Thursday, Putin said he would ask Assad about Austin. Assad is reportedly in Moscow after being granted asylum.
Back in Syria, the search continues.
“I would not be out here Christmas week, if I did not truly believe in my heart of hearts that he is not only alive, but also findable,” said Stern.
