Where is Austin Tice?: The American journalist

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0:46I'm lying on the floor, staring at images on my laptop of Austin Tice's Syrian intelligence files. Sarah and I have just found them. Austin has been missing since the summer of 2012. And these files might finally tell us where he is or what really happened to him. Nothing like this about Austin has ever been uncovered before. So this looks like a table of contents. And if you look at this page, they're asking their different intelligence officers to gather information about Austin Tice. Like where he worked, where he came from, who his mother is. So they're making a profile on him. The files are vast.

1:34A secret archive created by Syrian intelligence, made up of years of handwritten notes, formal reports, memos and coded messages. It's their investigation into Austin Tice. OK, so it says here that the American journalist Austin Tice went missing in Damascus. There's nothing about him being taken, arrested, anything? Not here. Look at this on page 21. To date, his fate remains unknown. How is that possible? Do they not know where he is? That's how it reads. This surprises us, because we thought Austin was being held by Syrian intelligence. It's almost like they're searching for Austin. And at the same time, they're also tracking what other people are doing to try and find him.

2:28There's a report here that says we received information from our sources on the ground in Lebanon that Deborah Tice has arrived and has met the US ambassador. So they're specifically gathering information on Austin's mother? Yeah. And there's a discussion about getting her phone number and the location of where she's staying and even the names of the people she's meeting. OK, and there's more here, because on this page, there's a report summing up a meeting between the head of the CIA and a director of Lebanese security. And Syrian intelligence seemed to have details of what they discussed. I guess they spied on them.

3:09And their conversation is all about getting Austin back. They've written a memo saying someone told the Americans they can get Austin's DNA to prove he's alive. We spend days going through the files. Some pages worry me. One says Austin was liquidated. But then there are others that seem to indicate he may still be alive. It's a confusing picture. So we dive deeper, scanning for what matters most. Austin's location. Hold on, I've got an admission. Wait, what? There's another memo which mentions Austin being held with a paramilitary group called the National Defense Forces. It's forces that were loyal to President Bashar al-Assad that was set up when the Syrian uprising started.

4:07But they were regular people. They're part of the state, but they're outside the conventional state system. So they're outside the Syrian prison system. So if he's held there, maybe that's why we're not finding him. It would also probably explain why Syrian intelligence are looking for him. They're worried that they've lost him in their own system. And actually he's held with a paramilitary group. I mean, yeah. This is crazy. I've actually never heard this explanation before. OK, we need to check this.

4:51So there's two or three white buildings that look like guard boxes, little mini bungalows. Some gunfire in the background.

5:06On the side of a mountain just outside the centre of Damascus, we go to the base of the militia that the files say was holding Austin. Inside a gated compound, we find a small prison. This way? Go inside. This is the prison that Austin was in.

5:29We search the cells and then the rest of the complex. But there's no trace of Austin. We're gutted. When we check, multiple sources confirm he was held here. So not in the regime's official prison system, but with the NDF, a militia loyal to Assad. It gave the regime control of Austin while preserving a layer of deniability. Close enough to control him, far enough away to claim they didn't have him. We update Austin's family, and later we go public. Tonight, top secret intelligence files are confirming for the first time that Tice was detained by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Now, Assad had denied this repeatedly.

6:17This is the first hard proof. Investigative journalist Josh Baker uncovered these files. He is with me now. We've proved Austin was held by the regime. But there are still so many unanswered questions about what really happened to him. Understanding what we found and where it might lead means working through his Syrian intelligence files. That's going to take time. But when I first spoke to Austin's mother, Deborah, she asked me to share whatever we discovered as soon as we can. So, we fly to Washington, D.C. It's a conversation that feels kinder face to face. Deborah asks us not to record.

7:02Afterwards, Sarah and I sit on the curb beneath the glow of a yellow streetlight. I don't know about you, but that was one of the hardest things I've ever done. You could just see, as we went on, that it was hurting her. But at the same time, she wanted more. She needs to find out what happened to her baby. I mean, the regime fell, right? And every day since the regime fell, and there's no word of him. At least before, there was an excuse almost for not hearing anything about Austin. The government was still in power. It's a black box. It's a mystery. Now it's so ambiguous. And then every single piece of hope and every single possibility, no matter how minute, she jumps on it.

7:58I totally get it. That's the problem when people disappear. You can't have closure. You don't stop because you need an answer.

8:14The fall of the Syrian regime was the moment everyone expected that Austin would be found. But with no sign of him emerging from any prison, his case now feels more uncertain than ever. No one knows where he is or even if he's alive. His intelligence files span years and contain fragments of information. They seem to offer clues, threads to follow, but no clear answer. So I want to go back to the beginning of Austin's journey and retrace his route. Because somewhere along that path are the people who know what really happened to him. I'm Josh Baker from BBC Radio 4 and NPR's Embedded. This is Where is Austin Tice?

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10:35This is it. Thank you. I should have talked about it, Dan. Thanks a lot.

10:46Hi, you guys. Hi. Hi. You must be David. I'm David. I'm loving the hat. Thank you. Thanks. I'm jealous of it, actually. They're like five bucks at the corner shop. With a shaven head, Beirut really results in some burning action. It gets you. This is David Enders. His apartment sits high in the mountains outside Lebanon's capital, Beirut. Low clouds drift as the horizon dissolves into pale light. We're here because David is a journalist who travelled part of the way through Syria with Austin back in 2012. What's the, you've got a poster of Saddam Hussein here. I've had those in my closet for like 20 years.

11:28Those are wanted posters that the American military actually put around Baghdad in 2003. Were you in Iraq then? Yeah. Oh, wow. How long have you been a journalist? 25 years. Do you remember the first time you heard Austin's name? Well, yeah, when I read it, one of the outlets he was freelancing for was McClatchy newspapers. People seemed really impressed with what he was doing. My initial reaction was, who is this guy? And to be honest, I was a little miffed. I had been covering Syria for McClatchy from the standpoint of someone who was a freelance journalist. Did I just lose my job? And a job that, you know, you're taking no small amount of risk for.

12:17So I got in touch with him and I said, hey, I'm going to be headed back in and let's meet up.

12:28It began with peaceful protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world. In Syria, government troops opened fire on protesters for a second straight day. It's the summer of 2012 and Syria is making global headlines. Protests against the brutal rule of President Assad are being put down using imprisonment and murder. The government has consistently used force to try to crush these protests. Violence in Syria rages on. The uprising there, the longest and deadliest of the so-called Arab Spring. The brutality sparks a fight back. Now, tens of thousands of Syrians have taken up arms, forming rebel groups to try to overthrow Assad's dictatorship.

13:16The country is in a state of civil war. Fox News, one of the very few foreign media outlets inside Syria right now. It isn't just staff reporters covering the war. There's a surge of freelancers, self-employed journalists selling stories, photos and video to whoever will buy, often with little backup or support. Austin has just put his life as a law student in America on hold and come to Syria to do exactly that. He's learning how to survive as a freelance journalist, building a career in real time, inside a war. I came into Syria over the Turkish border from southern Turkey. That border is fairly porous and becoming more so all the time.

14:02Austin Tice there, freelance reporter in Syria and a former U.S. Marine. Thanks so much, Austin. It's been a pleasure. Take care. Freelancers like Austin work for themselves. They don't have the budgets, safe hotels or protections that staff journalists often have. But they do have something else. Freedom. The freedom to spend more time with people. To move closer to the front lines. To reach the places where the story is happening. Without as many restrictions. And that's exactly the experience Austin is having.

14:41It's clearly a popular revolution, right? Anyone who says this is armed terrorists or whatever, it's missed the boat.

14:51Austin's being filmed by local activists and fighters that he's befriended. He's dependent on them for his transport, accommodation and safety. We track down one of the activists online and he sends us the videos. They offer a rare glimpse of Austin's life at the time. Not watching the revolution from a distance, but throwing himself into every part of it.

15:20One video shows him taking pictures of teenagers in black balaclavas. They're spray-painting anti-government graffiti onto walls. If caught, the regime would imprison them, or perhaps even kill them. Austin? As-salamu alaykum. Wa alaykum as-salam. What's your comment about this job? It's funny, right, because most places in the world you see teenagers painting on the walls. I don't want them to get out of there because, you know, they're writing something stupid, writing some graffiti. But this is very inspiring, very nice. At night, with a big toothy grin, he watches peaceful demonstrations in the street.

16:00He's tall and towers above those around him. He's hard to miss.

16:09He's almost always in the same faded green shirt with a baseball cap turned backwards. His camera hangs from his hand like it's an extension of his body. A bag, presumably carrying his laptop, is never far from sight. He looks happy, proud even. A few weeks into Austin's trip, David arrives in Syria. Do you remember the first day you saw him? Yeah, he was wearing that green shirt. He only had like one change of clothes with it. Are you serious? Yeah. Yeah, no, he was traveling pretty light. I was like, oh, this is going to be comical, right? Like hanging out with this guy. So it was, you know, fun to have somebody to just kind of like joke around with, right?

17:02For the next few weeks, David and Austin work as a team, travelling around Syria with rebel fighters, known as the Free Syrian Army, or FSA. I don't think I took off my boots for like two or three weeks. We were ready to move at any time. We ate potatoes for two straight weeks. And I was like, just let me buy you guys a chicken, please. It's very unglamorous, rough and ready journalism. But Austin and David become friends. Austin is really likable, gregarious. He had never been to Syria. So for him, it was all like endlessly new. And for the Syrians we were around, he was very easy to like and get along with.

17:52And at that point, the access you had to the fighting was unparalleled, right? The risks must have been insane. Yeah. I mean, there were moments where, like, we're with a group of fighters. They're like, we're going to go ambush a tank. So, like, everybody takes positions and is waiting for this patrol that they expect to come by. Austin's saying, OK, well, if this really happens, this is where we go for cover. And I was like, OK, yeah, this is useful. it's not the worst thing to have a marine with me because quite frankly it was at times it was quite terrifying what austin had as a definite strength he had combat experience in the american military in a sense it was very impressive what he was doing and he was very risk acceptant By placing himself this close to the fighting, Austin is putting himself in real danger.

18:54But that proximity gives him access to stories few other journalists have, and it gets him noticed by major news organisations. So much so that he's now being interviewed for his analysis on the Syrian civil war, a conflict he was unfamiliar with just a few weeks ago. Austin Tice has been there recently. He's a photojournalist, a former Marine. You've got military experience, Austin. What's your guess? Does the FSA, does it have the beating of Bashar al-Assad? I think that the FSA will eventually triumph, but I'm not sure that it will be because of any decisive military engagement. As far as being a journalist, that he was very new to the industry.

19:41He had an understanding of combat, He did not seem to have much of an understanding of Syria. He did nothing to play down his military experience. I mean, he was a six foot four, visible tattoos, right? He looked like people's stereotype of an American soldier in some ways. We were in a room full of fighters and one of them said, he's an American soldier. He has blood on his hands. And I told Austin this. And I said, look, you know, you are one one dude who lost his brother in Iraq away from like. That was where he seemed to lack a real awareness of where he was. There was a moment to, you know, like we're sitting around nothing to do in the evening and he was showing these guys how to shoot properly.

20:34They were like, OK, this is the plan. This is what they're going to do. And then they would be like, oh, what do you think? And I'd be like, don't. Don't offer what you think. You don't think anything. I mean, it's a complex thing as a journalist, right? Because the second that you're telling people how to shoot better or engaging with military planning, you're contributing to the killing of others to some degree. Yeah. It's a pretty big line to cross. Yeah. And I told him that. I said, look, man, this is not a good idea. I don't think a lot of them necessarily believed he was a journalist. How do you mean?

21:09I think some of them thought he was American intelligence. Did you ever see any evidence of that? No. It sounds like Austin is still learning that as a journalist, he's meant to be an observer. And while his service as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan is a source of pride for him, in Syria, that history can be read very differently. That he was part of a Western force that invaded and destabilised the region. It's like he hasn't understood how deeply that cultural and historical context runs. And in the military, he lived on a secure base, operated within a larger unit, and had a chain of command to review his decisions.

21:55Journalism isn't like that. It's much more exposed. It's a different skill set. And from what I've been told, it seems like these knowledge gaps have impacted his ability to see the danger around him. It was very clear to me that he was not making good decisions about his personal safety. And, you know, I also explained to him, look, you're, you know, by the time you've been in a war zone for four or five weeks, you're basically clinically insane. You're probably not making great choices. People become more reactive. Just your levels of stress and your decision making starts to erode. the periods i've done it as well like you're also you're exhausted you're hungry yeah it's like a tick box of what can you be in to make the worst decisions possible yeah i was working with a syrian journalist at the time we actually discussed having austin tied up and dragged back to turkey are you serious i mean logistically it would have been a pain in the ass we probably would I had to knock him out, right?

23:04Like, it would have been like, big guy. I'm sure he could fight. Probably been trained, right? No, we figured he'd just be back in the next day. The concern had got that real. Uh-huh, yeah. And that was where we parted. This message comes from IXL. IXL provides personalized learning and powerful insights that help teachers boost achievement and understand student progress in real time. Learn more at IXL.com slash NPR. On the next through line from NPR. Let's listen to Josh Reddick's new walk-up song. Whether you love it or you hate it, walk-up music has become a huge part of Major League Baseball.

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24:34Download the NPR app today. From what David is saying, it sounds like Austin is being completely consumed by the environment he's in, and losing perspective. I empathize a bit. It's taken me weeks, if not months, to fully adjust after reporting in combat. It's hard to explain just how much it impacts you. As David departs, Austin decides to push deeper into Syria. I'll tell you, I've travelled all over Syria at this point, and this is one of the more peaceful cities that I've come to so far. It's pretty surprising. And since I've been here, I've seen quite a bit of this peaceful revolutionary movement.

25:19I saw these people cleaning the streets, and now this prayer that's going to happen. I think it's really quite inspiring, frankly.

25:29It sounds like Austin is finding a sense of purpose doing this work. And this is when he gets his big break. A front page story in the Washington Post, a major international newspaper. David emails Austin to congratulate him. He was pretty excited about that, right? Like, he's been doing journalism for like two months and he's on the front page of the Washington Post. And I joked with him, I said, hey man, you're going to win a Pulitzer. And he thought I was serious. So it had gone to his head, for sure. And I was a little bit in awe of it too. You know, I said, this is impressive. Austin's dream of becoming a foreign correspondent is starting to come true.