A man from Missouri named Travis Timmerman was found in Syria on Thursday. He said he had been freed from prison earlier in the week after a surprise rebel attack overthrew Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
Timmerman told CBS News that he had been trying to escape the country after walking out of the prison where he had been held for more than six months. He explained that he was arrested seven months ago for entering Syria without permission, after spending a month in Lebanon.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefly commented on the situation during a press conference in Jordan. “We’re working to bring this American home,” Blinken said. “But for privacy reasons, I can’t share more details right now.”
Timmerman described how his prison door was broken down on Monday by two men armed with AK-47s. “The noise woke me up,” he said. “At first, I thought the guards were still there and that fighting had gotten worse. But once we got out, there wasn’t any resistance or real fighting.”
A U.S. official confirmed that the government was aware of Timmerman’s situation and was working to assist him but declined to provide further information to respect his privacy.
