Missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the Assad regime and questioned by a Syrian intelligence officer, the BBC reported on Monday, citing uncovered intelligence files from the former government. 

BBC said that the authenticity of the files had been verified by the news organization and by law enforcement. 

Syrian officials from the former Assad regime also confirmed to the BBC that the regime had detained Tice.

The US government previously said that it believed the Syrian government held Tice, but the Assad regime denied the claim.

Tice, who worked as a freelance journalist, disappeared near Damascus in August 2012. According to the BBC, seven weeks after his disappearance, a video was posted online showing Tice blindfolded and his hands bound, being forced to recite an Islamic declaration of faith by a group of armed men. 

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (credit: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (credit: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS)
However, US officials and analysts questioned the validity of the video, saying it "may have been staged."

No government or group claimed responsibility for Tice's disappearance, and he had not been heard from since.

The intelligence files unearthed by the BBC are allegedly the first evidence to surface of the Assad regime's detention of Tice, since efforts to locate him began following the fall of Assad's regime in December 2024.

According to the BBC, the files labelled "Austin Tice" included communications from different branches of Syrian intelligence.

Tice detained by pro-Assad paramilitary group in Damascus in 2012

One file, marked "top secret," showed that Tice was detained in a facility in Damascus in 2012, with sources confirming to the BBC that he was held by a paramilitary group loyal to the Assad regime. 

A Syrian official told the BBC that Tice was held in Damascus by the paramilitary group until February 2013, and at that time, Tice developed stomach issues and was treated by a doctor twice. Blood tests reportedly revealed that he suffered from a viral infection, the BBC wrote. 

A man who visited the facility where Tice was held told the BBC that Tice was treated better than the Syrian detainees, but that he looked "sad" and that the "joy had gone from his face."

A former member of the Assad loyalist group NDF with knowledge of Tice's detention told the BBC that Tice was a "card" for diplomatic negotiations with the US.

Tice was reported to have briefly escaped from captivity through a window in his cell, but was recaptured and interrogated by a Syrian government intelligence officer sometime between late 2012 and early 2013.

After the fall of the Assad regime, former US president Joe Biden said he believed Tice was alive, and Tice's parents said they heard from a "significant source" that Tice was indeed alive and being "treated well."

However, when prisons emptied after the fall of the regime, there was no sign of Tice, and his whereabouts are still unknown.