Where Is Austin Tice?: 1. "We Believe He’s Alive"
I’m Not a Monster Presents… Where is Austin Tice?
Investigative journalist Josh Baker explores the decade-long disappearance of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria. Following the recent
Key takeaways
- Austin Tice has been missing in Syria since 2012 after working as a journalist.
- The Assad regime recently fell following an offensive by rebel forces in Syria.
Main topics
- The disappearance of Austin Tice
- The fall of the Assad regime
Notable quotes
Find Austin.
Conclusion
The episode demonstrates how sudden geopolitical shifts can provide cr
Transcript preview
Speaker 4 (0:00) This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Speaker 5 (0:05) World of Secrets is where untold stories are exposed. In the new series, a scandal inside one of Indonesia's vast network of Islamic boarding schools. I Speaker 6 (0:17) kept telling myself, don't end up with him alone. And Speaker 5 (0:21) how former pupils have turned detective, daring to speak out against an institution that wants them silent. Speaker 5 (0:32) World of Secrets, Catching My Teacher. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Speaker 4 (0:43) Welcome to the Haunted Library. Have you come in search of a tale? This podcast invites you to browse the shelves and find stories that will linger long after you've left this place. From gothic masterpieces to pulpy penny dreadfuls, join me, Colin Morgan, with new episodes twice a week. Find The Haunted Library wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (1:11) Before we begin, I just want to explain that this series is an investigation into a real-life missing person case. We're in regular contact with that person's family and inform them of the content of every episode. Thanks for listening. We're Speaker 2 (1:43) actually racing room to room. We're going up another floor. Each room has kind of been ransacked. Speaker 7 (1:51) He's saying we need to look here. Okay, we just need to sweep this. Speaker 2 (1:59) Somebody tried to burn this and it didn't burn. I don't know if it's significant. It's December Speaker 8 (2:11) 2024. I'm moving down the dark, narrow, windowless corridor of a Syrian intelligence facility with my colleague Sara. This is one of the most notorious and secretive buildings in Syria. And it's where we've come to get answers. Speaker 2 (2:31) I'm in a room that's been set on fire. Speaker 2 (2:36) It's so precarious. The Speaker 7 (2:41) Russian detainee, the German corpse, confessions, the death of number 1002. I guess that's Speaker 8 (2:49) a Speaker 7 (2:49) pregnant number. Speaker 8 (2:53) We're searching for information about Austin Tice. He's an American journalist who disappeared in Syria more than a decade ago. Today, he's one of the most high-profile missing person cases in the world. Speaker 2 (3:12) Lift this up. Can you look underneath? And this end? Speaker 8 (3:27) Oh my God. Speaker 7 (3:28) Oh my God. Speaker 8 (3:33) Let me go quickly and try. You try. Yeah, keep looking. The keys we've just found might unlock a safe that we've been told contains answers about what happened to Austin Tice. Now, I need to see if these are the right keys. Speaker 2 (3:56) Oh, that's amazing. Speaker 8 (3:57) Yes, Speaker 2 (4:02) this is it. Okay, hold on. Speaker 8 (4:10) Let me just step back a few months, to the 14th of August 2024, the first time I met Austin's mother. I Speaker 3 (4:21) need 13, please. Thank you. Speaker 2 (4:25) Do you get nervous? Speaker 3 (4:27) No, I did persuasive speaking when I was in middle school. It's definitely good for mothering. Speaker 3 (4:35) You ready to go? Hi, Deborah. Hey! I'm so glad you're here. Thank you Speaker 7 (4:41) for Speaker 3 (4:41) coming. Speaker 8 (4:41) Happy to be Speaker 3 (4:41) here. Absolutely. I really appreciate it. This Speaker 8 (4:45) is Deborah Tice. Today marks the 12th anniversary of Austin's disappearance. I'm following her down a corridor at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. We pass by a large poster of Austin. He's broad-shouldered, handsome, with thick, dark hair and a chiselled jaw. Then we enter a grand ballroom. Speaker 7 (5:10) We're about to get started. If you want to start getting to your seats. Today, we recognize a major and sobering step in the long journey home for Austin Tice. Twelve years ago today, Austin was taken in Syria, where he was working as a journalist. We are joining together with Austin's friends and his family in urging the U.S. government to bring Austin home. Speaker 8 (5:38) This is no ordinary gathering. There are FBI agents, members of the intelligence community and government officials. Because for more than a decade, every American president has paid attention to Austin's case. On a big screen, recorded messages start to play. There's the head of McClatchy, one of the news organisations that Austin worked for. Speaker 6 (6:04) Today marks yet another year without Austin Tice, an American journalist and veteran US Marine who has been missing in Syria for over a decade. Speaker 8 (6:13) He's followed by Donald Trump's former national security adviser. Speaker 6 (6:17) Austin was the type of man that every dad wants their son to grow up to be like, a US Marine. a photojournalist in combat zones, a Georgetown Law student, a great son and a terrific brother. And Speaker 8 (6:31) then his mother Deborah is introduced. She has this long, striking silver hair and warm, gentle smile. She's petite and quietly spoken, but exudes a strength that comes from years of refusing to give up on her son. Speaker 7 (6:49) She's a woman of faith. I know she's a huge inspiration to me and a huge inspiration to many. If we can welcome to the stage Deborah Tice. Speaker 3 (7:01) Right now I just want to speak to Austin publicly. Speaker 3 (7:06) Stay strong, Austin. Keep the faith. We have many good people working for you and praying for your release. You will walk free again. I love you. You hang in there. Speaker 8 (7:26) The people here see Austin as an American hero who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who put his life on the line to report on the civil war in Syria. Speaker 8 (7:39) As the applause dies down, I look around. Faces are still, eyes fixed on nothing. A thousand-yard stare shared by many, not least of all Deborah, whose expression seems caught between gratitude for those who've come to honour her son and the quiet, unrelenting weight of his absence. Speaker 8 (8:06) The next day, I meet back up with Deborah at the National Press Club. She walks over to a grand wooden cabinet. It's got some of Austin's possessions on display. Speaker 3 (8:16) They have these shoes in it. Speaker 8 (8:18) His Converse All-Stars. Speaker 3 (8:20) It's all he ever wore. If you look really closely... Speaker 2 (8:24) Yeah, that's his reporter's diaper. Speaker 3 (8:26) Under his name, under his name Austin Tice, where it says, if found, please contact, there's a phone number. Speaker 8 (8:34) Oh, that's your home phone number? And Speaker 3 (8:36) every now and then, someone noticed it and they would dare to call. And they would say, are you really his mother? And I'm like, I'm really his mother. He wanted to be a journalist, international reporter for NPR. That was his dream. And then when he turned 18, he really was like, if I'm going to go to college, I'm going to Georgetown. And then he called them and said, well, if you