DAMASCUS, SYRIA – A Missouri man found in Syria told NBC News Thursday that he spent several months in a Syrian prison after entering the country on a “pilgrimage” to Damascus. It was little known that the man, who called himself Travis Timmerman and went missing in Hungary in May, was in Syria.
His findings came as a shock to local residents and journalists, as thousands of detainees are being released from prisons after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad last weekend.
Timmerman, who initially identified himself only as “Travis,” was first seen in a video released overnight, with people mistaking him for missing American journalist Austin Tice, 43. There were too.
Leaning against a wall with peeling paint and surrounded by reporters, 29-year-old Timmerman said he entered Syria on foot earlier this year and was stopped by Syrian authorities.
“I was on a pilgrimage to Damascus,” he told NBC News from a building on the outskirts of the capital. He said he lived for three days “without food or water” in the mountains near the Lebanese-Syrian border before being discovered and detained by border guards.
Timmerman said he was imprisoned by the regime for several months, during which time he was “fed well and had constant access to water, but the only difficulty was not being able to go to the bathroom regularly.”
He was later released as rebels stormed regime prisons across the country to free detainees.
Timmerman said he had spent the past few days wandering the city barefoot and sleeping outdoors and in abandoned buildings. He was then found again by a local who asked for water, and subsequently appeared in a video that quickly went viral on social media and attracted media attention.
Timmerman, who was located by NBC News and other news outlets in Diyabia, said he was “reading the Bible a lot” before deciding to cross the mountains from Lebanon to Syria. He seemed calm.
When one man repeatedly tried to contact U.S. officials, they responded, “We’re fine for now.”
He later told NBC News that he felt incarceration was “actually good for me,” describing it as “a time of solace and meditation that made me stronger.”
He said he intended to go to Jordan and contact his family before returning to Damascus, but said he had not yet spoken to them.
A U.S. official told NBC News that Washington is “aware of reports that an American national has been located outside Damascus and is requesting assistance. Out of respect for his privacy, we have no further information to provide at this time.” ” he said.
Timmerman said he was in Europe before leaving on his pilgrimage.
Earlier this year, authorities in Missouri and the Hungarian capital Budapest filed a missing person report for a man named Pete Timmerman, who Hungarian police identified as “Travis” Pete Timmerman.
Timmerman went missing in Budapest, Hungary, less than seven months ago on May 28, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a bulletin.
Budapest authorities identified Timmerman in a request for information as “Travis Pete Timmerman.” The animal was last seen at a church and then “gone to an unknown location with no signs of life.”
Matt Bradley and Richard Engel reported from Damascus and Chantal da Silva from London.
Andrea Mitchell and Abigail Williams contributed.
