American journalist and former U.S. Marine, Austin Tice, has allegedly been held by Syrian authorities for 12 years.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden called for the immediate release of Tice.
"This week marks 12 long, terrible years since American Austin Tice was abducted in Syria," the president stated.
"We have repeatedly pressed the government of Syria to work with us so that we can, at last, bring Austin home. Today, I once again call for his immediate release."
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also touched on Tice's captivity, noting that Austin has been separated from his family and kept in unknown conditions for more than a quarter of his life.
He added that there have been repeated attempts at negotiation to find a way to bring Tice home.
"Austin went to Syria to show the world the truth of what was going on there," Blinken stated. "We're not going to relent until we find a way to bring Austin's unjust detention to an end."
In 2022, Biden said that the US government knew "with certainty" that Tice was being held by the Syrian government; however, Syrian authorities continue to deny this claim.
The Syrian government has denied that it "kidnapped or is holding any American citizen on its territories" and has called the accusations made by the US government '"baseless."
Tice disappeared while reporting in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus in Syria, in August of 2012.
At the time, he was working as a freelance journalist and photographer for several news organizations, including CBS, the Washington Post, and the McClatchy Company, according to the Guardian.
