FBI offers $1M for return of U.S. journalist kidnapped in Syria

U.S. intelligence sources said information from the past 18 months indicates Austin Tice may still be alive. File photo courtesy of the FBI

April 21 (UPI) — The FBI has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the return of Austin Tice, as U.S. intelligence suggests the American journalist abducted nearly six years ago in Syria may still be alive.

This is the first reward the FBI has offered for the recovery of Tice since his disappearance in August 2012. He was last seen in a video that year wearing a blindfold, appearing to wince in pain and repeating “Oh, Jesus” multiple times as armed men led him away.

He was in Daraya covering the Syrian civil war as a freelance journalist for The Washington Post, CBS and McClatchy newspapers at the time of his kidnapping.

Two senior intelligence officials told ABC News that information gathered over the past 18 months indicates Tice could still be alive. Earlier assessments suggested he died in captivity.

If he is alive, the Texas native would be 36 years old.

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