According to two U.S. defense officials and his family, Travis Timmerman, the missing Missouri man who was unexpectedly discovered in Syria after claiming to have entered the country on a “pilgrimage,” was transported to Jordan by the U.S. military on Friday.
The 29-year-old Timmerman’s family said they had not heard from him in months before seeing him on the news on Thursday when footage from Syria caused some to mistake him for missing American journalist Austin Tice, 43.
“It feels fantastic! “Grate God!” Pixie Rogers, Timmerman’s sister, remarked after hearing that he was getting closer to returning home. “I would like for him to know that my whole family and I love him so much and that we are happy to know that we are going to see him soon.”
In a Telegram post, Syria’s Department of Political Affairs verified the transfer. Timmerman was transported by U.S. military chopper from Syria.
Before choosing to cross the mountains from Lebanon into Syria, Timmerman informed news agencies that he had “been reading the scripture a lot” and that this was the reason he was imprisoned.
Locals and journalists were shocked to learn of his finding, as thousands of prisoners were released from prisons following President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster over the weekend.
Although Timmerman’s family was aware that he had visited Eastern European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Hungary, to write and study more about God and religion, they became concerned that his laptop and cell phone might have been taken after May.
According to Rogers, the family only found out that Timmerman was in Lebanon in the last several weeks, following Missouri law enforcement’s successful communication with U.S. Embassy representatives in Hungary.
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