Syria’s Damascus After entering Syria on a “pilgrimage” to Damascus, a Missouri man who was discovered in the nation told NBC News on Thursday that he was imprisoned there for months. The fact that the man, who claimed to be Travis Timmerman and vanished in Hungary in May, was in Syria was not well recognized.
As thousands of captives came out of cells following President Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow over the weekend, his revelation shocked residents, reporters, and rebel officials.
Timmerman was first seen in a video that surfaced overnight, and at first he merely identified himself as Travis.
Timmerman, 29, who was surrounded by reporters and leaned against walls with peeling paint, claimed that early this year, Syrian authorities stopped him after he entered the country on foot.
He told NBC News, “I was on a pilgrimage to Damascus,” in a facility outside the capital.
As Assad’s regime fell, Timmerman separately told CBS News that he had been released from a prison earlier in the week.
“I was awakened by the sound of my door being broken,” Timmerman claimed. I believed the fighting may have been more intense than it was since I believed the guards were still present. There was no actual fighting or opposition after we left.
Early rumors that the missing guy might be American journalist Austin Tice, 43, who vanished in Syria in 2012 a few days after turning 31, were fueled by the footage that surfaced after he was located.
Timmerman claimed that before choosing to cross the mountains from Lebanon into Syria, he had been reading the scripture a lot since being discovered in Dhiyabia by NBC News and other media. He seemed at ease.
One individual kept offering to connect him with U.S. officials, but he said he was “okay for right now.”
Washington was “aware of reports of an American found outside of Damascus and seeking to provide support,” a U.S. official told NBC News. We don’t currently have any more information to share out of consideration for his privacy.”
Timmerman claimed to have visited Europe before starting his pilgrimage and to have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in late May before being apprehended by a border patrol.
Earlier this year, authorities in the capital of Hungary and Missouri filed missing person reports for a man named Pete Timmerman. Hungarian police identified him as Travis Pete Timmerman.
Timmerman disappeared from Budapest, Hungary, on May 28th, less than seven months ago, according to a public awareness notice from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
In a plea for information, the Budapest authorities had identified Timmerman as Travis Pete Timmerman. They claimed that there was no evidence of him since he was last seen in a church and had subsequently departed for an unidentified location.
Chantal Da Silva reported from London, and Matt Bradley from Damascus.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!