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| Austin Tice's parents: 'We want our child back and we want to do whatever it takes' | Austin Tice's parents: 'We want our child back and we want to do whatever it takes' |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The parents of kidnapped American journalist Austin Tice have spoken of heartache and hope in an interview with CBS This Morning, the first the family has given since Islamist militants in Syria beheaded American journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley. | The parents of kidnapped American journalist Austin Tice have spoken of heartache and hope in an interview with CBS This Morning, the first the family has given since Islamist militants in Syria beheaded American journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley. |
| “I do not accept that he is missing, I live in a place where he is coming home,” said Debra Tice. Asked by correspondent Clarissa Ward how she sustains hope, Tice said: “I don’t have to sustain it. It’s the most beautiful, miraculous gift that God is giving me every single day. I do not have to keep hope alive, it simply encases me.” | |
| Tice, a 33-year-old freelance journalist, has been missing since August 2012. He is believed to be held by the Syrian regime, CBS reported, though details on his whereabouts are scant. Tice is a former marine who was pursuing a law degree at Georgetown University, when he decided to travel to Syria to cover the conflict. He reported for the Washington Post, the BBC and NPR among others. | Tice, a 33-year-old freelance journalist, has been missing since August 2012. He is believed to be held by the Syrian regime, CBS reported, though details on his whereabouts are scant. Tice is a former marine who was pursuing a law degree at Georgetown University, when he decided to travel to Syria to cover the conflict. He reported for the Washington Post, the BBC and NPR among others. |
| Tice’s parents said the beheadings of Sotloff and Foley were devastating. | Tice’s parents said the beheadings of Sotloff and Foley were devastating. |
| “Marc came downstairs again with that look again with that white face, and I’m just begging him, what? What is it? What is it? What is it?” said Debra Tice. “I mean, it was just such a gut punch. Because we had such hope that that would never happen to an American journalist.” | “Marc came downstairs again with that look again with that white face, and I’m just begging him, what? What is it? What is it? What is it?” said Debra Tice. “I mean, it was just such a gut punch. Because we had such hope that that would never happen to an American journalist.” |
| Marc Tice was quiet through most of CBS interview and almost broke down describing an email from one of Austin’s former colleagues. | Marc Tice was quiet through most of CBS interview and almost broke down describing an email from one of Austin’s former colleagues. |
| “We got an email from, this is hard to talk [about], we got an email from a girl that worked at the same restaurant in Georgetown that Austin worked at, and she said: ‘You know, I was walking home at night by myself and Austin noticed that, and he started walking me home at night.’ It was just a small thing, but Austin cared,” said Marc Tice. | “We got an email from, this is hard to talk [about], we got an email from a girl that worked at the same restaurant in Georgetown that Austin worked at, and she said: ‘You know, I was walking home at night by myself and Austin noticed that, and he started walking me home at night.’ It was just a small thing, but Austin cared,” said Marc Tice. |
| Six weeks after Tice lost contact, a video surfaced that appears to show him being held by Islamic militants. However, it’s difficult to garner any intelligence from the video, according to experts interviewed by Houston Public Media in Texas. Tice’s parents haven’t received communication about his condition since May. No demands for ransom have been made. | |
| “The title of that video is ‘Austin Tice is alive.’ That is 100% of our takeaway. Our son is alive, and now we are doing everything that we can think of to bring him safely home,” Debra Tice said on the two-year anniversary of her son’s disappearance, last month. | |
| Tice’s parents, like members of Foley’s family, expressed empathy when asked whether families should be allowed to pay ransom to terrorists. | Tice’s parents, like members of Foley’s family, expressed empathy when asked whether families should be allowed to pay ransom to terrorists. |
| “If an American citizen is held hostage overseas, you are discouraged and disparaged, if you even consider paying a reward for a precious human child, because you don’t know where that reward money’s going to go,” said Debra Tice. “You know, we’re just a mom and dad. We want our child back. And we want to do whatever it takes.” | “If an American citizen is held hostage overseas, you are discouraged and disparaged, if you even consider paying a reward for a precious human child, because you don’t know where that reward money’s going to go,” said Debra Tice. “You know, we’re just a mom and dad. We want our child back. And we want to do whatever it takes.” |
| Both Debra and Marc Tice maintain active Twitter accounts and have spoken about their son publicly before. | |
| “We could speculate until we drove ourselves crazy, and we found and learned and were advised early on that that kind of speculation just leads to, you know, madness,” Marc Tice told Houston Public Media. | “We could speculate until we drove ourselves crazy, and we found and learned and were advised early on that that kind of speculation just leads to, you know, madness,” Marc Tice told Houston Public Media. |
| Tice himself wrote passionately for Americans to end their apathy, and his view on America as a culture of diversion and complacency. He asked friends to stop telling him to be “safe” in Syria, and instead renew America’s pioneering spirit. | Tice himself wrote passionately for Americans to end their apathy, and his view on America as a culture of diversion and complacency. He asked friends to stop telling him to be “safe” in Syria, and instead renew America’s pioneering spirit. |
| “Every person in this country fighting for their freedom wakes up every day and goes to sleep every night with the knowledge that death could visit them at any moment,” wrote Austin Tice, on his Facebook page in July 2012. The post was later published by the Washington Post. | “Every person in this country fighting for their freedom wakes up every day and goes to sleep every night with the knowledge that death could visit them at any moment,” wrote Austin Tice, on his Facebook page in July 2012. The post was later published by the Washington Post. |
| “No, I don’t have a death wish – I have a life wish. So I’m living, in a place, at a time and with a people where life means more than anywhere I’ve ever been – because every single day people here lay down their own for the sake of others. Coming here to Syria is the greatest thing I’ve ever done, and it’s the greatest feeling of my life,” Tice wrote | “No, I don’t have a death wish – I have a life wish. So I’m living, in a place, at a time and with a people where life means more than anywhere I’ve ever been – because every single day people here lay down their own for the sake of others. Coming here to Syria is the greatest thing I’ve ever done, and it’s the greatest feeling of my life,” Tice wrote |
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