Stern has been searching through prisons looking for U.S. journalist Austin Tice. (Bryan Stern/Grey Bull Rescue )
Stern has led high-level rescue missions in some of the most dangerous corners of the world, including Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Israel, Haiti, Lebanon and the U.S. during natural disasters.
"We have done 12 jailbreaks from Russia," said Stern. "That is 12 more than the CIA."
The ousting of Bashar al-Assad and subsequent takeover of Syria by HTS has offered the Biden administration and Tice’s family a renewed sense of hope that the journalist could be found.
"He could have died of a stomach bug three years ago. And we just don't know. I don't think that that's the case," said Stern. "I have no reason to believe that that's the case. There's not a single piece of information, circumstantial or otherwise, that indicate anything near that. In fact, everything I have is counter to that."
The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was abducted while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime during the early stages of the Syrian civil war, which ultimately ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted and fled to Moscow.
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The Grey Bull team has pored through prison records looking for Tice. (Bryan Stern/Grey Bull Rescue )
"Assad is living the good life in the tower in Moscow. But make no mistake, he still has reach inside of Syria," said Stern. "Half of the new government were Assad guys last week."
"That tribal nexus plus the fear of Bashar Assad being able to reach out and touch people still in Syria, why would they come forward?"
Another group working with Grey Bull asserted this week that they believe Tice is alive.
"We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the U.S. said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today," Nizar Zakka, president of Hostage Aid Worldwide, said Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
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"We are trying to be as transparent as possible and to share as much information as possible."
Zakka offered little evidence to back up its statements made from a press conference in Damascus, though he reportedly used an image to demonstrate the locations where Tice was held from November 2017 to February 2024.
U.S. Hostage Aid Worldwide has engaged with Tice’s family and U.S. authorities in the hunt for Tice, and the Biden administration has echoed a message of hope that Tice is alive, despite months of little word about his whereabouts.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/syria-rescue-mission-operator-believes-austin-tice-alive-found-soon