Man figuring out himself as American Travis Timmerman present in Syria after being free of jail

A person figuring out himself as an American from Missouri, Travis Timmerman, was discovered Thursday in Syria after he stated he was free of a jail earlier within the week, when longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad was compelled from energy by a shock insurgent offensive. 

Timmerman instructed CBS Information senior overseas correspondent Elizabeth Palmer that he had been making an attempt to make his personal approach in a foreign country after strolling out of the jail the place he’d been held for greater than half of a 12 months. He stated he was detained upon getting into Syria with out permission seven months in the past after spending a month in neighboring Lebanon.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, talking to reporters in Aqaba, Jordan, briefly addressed the invention of Timmerman.

“When it comes to an American citizen who was discovered simply immediately, I am unable to offer you any particulars on precisely what is going on to occur besides to say that we’re working to carry them house, to carry them out of Syria and to carry them house,” Blinken stated. “However for privateness causes, I am unable to share any extra element than that at this level.”

A U.S. official beforehand instructed CBS Information the federal government was conscious of the experiences that an American had been discovered exterior Damascus and that it was looking for to offer help, however the official declined to offer any additional element out of respect for his privateness.  

Timmerman stated two males armed with AK-47s broke his jail door down Monday with a hammer.

“My door was busted down, it woke me up,” Timmerman stated. “I assumed the guards had been nonetheless there, so I assumed the warfare might have been extra energetic than it ended up being… As soon as we received out, there was no resistance, there was no actual preventing.”

Timmerman stated he had gone to Syria for Christian “religious functions” and that his expertise in jail “wasn’t too dangerous.”

“I used to be by no means overwhelmed. The one actually dangerous half was that I could not go to the lavatory once I wished to. I used to be solely set free 3 times a day to go to the lavatory,” he stated.

Timmerman stated he left the jail with a big group and began strolling away. He stated he had been making an attempt to go towards Jordan.

He stated he “had a couple of moments of concern,” when he left the jail, and hadn’t actually processed that he was free.

“I nonetheless have not actually thought of that. I have been extra nervous about discovering a spot to sleep every evening since then,” he instructed CBS Information. “So I have been working, actually.”

Timmerman stated he hadn’t been afraid to strategy individuals to ask for assist or a spot to sleep at evening on his journey.

“They had been coming to me, largely,” Timmerman stated, including that he’d spoken along with his household three weeks in the past, via a telephone that he had whereas in jail. He stated he had been allowed to make use of it.

“I am feeling effectively. I have been fed and I have been watered, so I am feeling effectively,” Timmerman stated.

Timmerman was named as “Travis Pete Timmerman” on a lacking individual’s bulletin revealed by Hungarian police in August, which stated he had been final seen at a church within the nation.

A lacking individual’s bulletin revealed by the Missouri State Freeway Patrol stated that Timmerman, whose first identify was listed as Pete, had been final seen in Budapest. The bulletin stated the date of his final contact had been June 2, 2024, and that he was 29 years outdated when he went lacking.

contributed to this report.