American citizen Pete Travis Timmerman, missing since June 2023, was found wandering barefoot Thursday in a Damascus suburb, marking the end of a months-long disappearance that began in Budapest, Hungary.
Local residents discovered the 29-year-old Missouri native in al-Thiyabiyah during the early morning hours. In an interview with Al-Arabiya television, Timmerman said he had been held in isolation in a Syrian prison after crossing into the country on foot from Lebanon. His release coincided with opposition forces’ recent overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
“That’s what my daughter said, it’s a Christmas miracle,” his mother, Stacey Collins Gardiner, told NPR upon learning of his discovery.
Timmerman, who holds degrees in finance and law from Missouri State University, had been working in Chicago before returning to his hometown of Urbana, Missouri, to focus on writing about nature and his Christian faith. He later traveled to Budapest, where he was last seen attending church in June.
Hungarian authorities issued a missing person’s report after his disappearance, which followed his warning to family members that his travels might make communication difficult. The Missouri State Highway Police had also distributed missing person flyers noting his last known location in Budapest.
A video circulated Thursday showed Timmerman resting on a mattress under a blanket, surrounded by individuals who assured his safe return home. While the footage initially sparked speculation about missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice, U.S. officials confirmed it was Timmerman.
During his captivity, Timmerman said he wasn’t physically abused but could hear others being tortured. His emergence comes amid significant political changes in Syria, including the fall of the Assad regime, which has raised hopes for locating other missing Americans, including Tice, who disappeared in Syria 12 years ago.
Gardiner, who learned of her son’s discovery through early morning news reports, expressed joy and relief. “I will hug him… and then I probably won’t let him go,” she said, adding, “Our prayers came true.”
