Missing American Travis Timmerman found wandering barefoot outside Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria — An American man who identified himself as Travis Pete Timmerman was found in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus by local residents on Thursday.

Timmerman was last seen in Budapest, Hungary, in early June. On Thursday, he told reporters in Damascus that he had been on a pilgrimage and was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon.

His resurfacing in Damascus ends months of uncertainty and worry for his family.

“That’s what my daughter said, it’s a Christmas miracle,” his mother, Stacey Collins Gardiner, told NPR.

Locals in the town of al-Thiyabiyah found the 29-year-old man as he wandered barefoot on the streets in the early hours of the morning.

In an interview with Arabic TV news channel Al-Arabiya, Timmerman said that he had been held in isolation in a prison cell and that he was released when opposition forces stormed Damascus and overthrew President Bashar al-Assad. He said he hadn’t been beaten but could hear other people being tortured.

Hungarian police released a missing person’s report for Timmerman after he attended church in the capital, Budapest, seven months ago.

The Missouri State Highway Police put out a missing persons flyer last year for a “Pete Timmerman,” which noted he was last located in Budapest.

A video circulated earlier Thursday showed Timmerman lying on a mattress under a blanket. A group of men surrounding him said he was being treated well and would be sent home safely.

Timmerman received a degree in finance at Missouri State University in 2017, followed by a law degree, and then worked in Chicago for a couple of years, said Gardiner, his mother. 

But then he came back home, saying he wanted to write — about nature and especially his Christian faith. He went to church frequently after returning to their hometown of Urbana, Mo., she said.

Though he didn’t have much money, Travis went to Budapest to work on his writing and to help people, Gardiner said. He fell out of touch after warning her that his travels might make communication difficult.

She later learned he had traveled to Lebanon — and now he’s been found in Syria. 

News outlets started calling Gardiner and her husband around 4:30 a.m. local time, she said. For hours, they remained unsure if the man found in Syria was actually Travis.

“At first, I was hoping it was him, but we didn’t know if it was a scam or what. And then my daughter saw him on the news,” she said. “Not him, but they were talking about Travis. … and I was so surprised. I was so happy, I cried too — happy tears.”

At the time NPR spoke with Gardiner Thursday morning, she said she hadn’t spoken to her son or anyone from the government about his apparent discovery in Syria.

She knows what she’ll do when she sees him.

“I will hug him. … And then I probably won’t let him go,” she said, laughing. “I’ll say, well, thank God you’re still alive. And I’m so happy. Our prayers came true.”

Thursday’s video at first sparked speculation that the man could be missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria 12 years ago.

A United States official confirmed that the man in the video was not Tice.

Tice was captured in Syria while reporting on the conflict there. His parents have led a yearslong fight to free their son and the overthrowing of the Assad regime increased hope that Tice may be found. Tice’s siblings told NPR this week that they have received information that their brother was alive.

Hadeel Al-Shalchi reported from Damascus, Syria; Bill Chappell reported from Washington, D.C.