Report: Body of US journalist Austin Tice, missing since 2012, found in Syria

The Al Jazeera news network reports that a joint US-Qatari search team, with the assistance of Syrian security forces, has uncovered the remains of missing US journalist Austin Tice in the Aleppo region of Syria.

The report, which cites an unnamed official Syrian source, says two other bodies were also found at the site.

Tice has been missing since 2012 after traveling to Syria to document the early days of the Syrian civil war. He disappeared near Damascus and has not been heard from since, other than in a video weeks later, in which he was blindfolded and held by armed men.

Al Jazeera reports that a former Islamic State operative revealed the location of the burial site to the search team.

Efforts to locate Tice have stepped up since the regime of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad fell to Islamist insurgents in December. Assad’s government had previously denied that it was holding him.

In response to the reports, Hostage Aid Worldwide, which has been leading the search for Tice on behalf of his family, urges the public and the media to “refrain from speculation” as to his whereabouts and condition.

“We would like to clarify that only the Tice family will issue official comments or statements regarding any ongoing developments,” it says. “These statements will be made either directly by the family or through Hostage Aid, and only once information has been verified and confirmed.”