The mother and stepfather of a missing US man who was found in Syria expressed their relief that he is alive, saying they 'had no idea' where their son was after not hearing from him for months. Locals said they found Travis Timmerman, 29, walking the streets of Damascus barefoot. Timmerman claimed he was released from one of Bashar al-Assad’s prisons following the regime’s collapse.
Speaking on Friday, Timmerman’s mother Stacey Gardiner and his stepfather Richard Gardiner said they hadn’t heard from Travis for seven months and feared the worst.
'I have no idea how he ended up in Syria. Last we knew he was in Hungary. How he ended up that far south, we have no idea,' Richard Gardiner said, adding that their son wanted to carry out research to 'write a book on old churches.' Stacey Gardiner said that he went to Prague and Hungary to 'visit different churches.' 'He was all about God. He wanted to learn different things over there. At first I didn’t like it but, you know, he’s 29, you can’t make him stay home,' she said.
Prior to losing contact with their son, he would make video calls to them two or three times a week, Richard Gardiner said. They then learned around a month ago that somebody in Lebanon had his laptop and phone. 'We knew he didn’t have those anymore, so you’re thinking the worst,' he said. Stacey Gardiner said she broke down in tears when she saw her son on the news — the first moment she learned he was alive. 'I was going crazy,' she said, adding that her son 'looked different' and had clearly 'been through a lot.'
Timmerman told he had been detained in a Syrian prison for several months after entering the country from Lebanon without permission, traveling there for 'spiritual purposes.' US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the US was working to bring home an American citizen found in Syria.
