Washington D.C. – The Washington Post, December 12, 2024
The man, who identified himself as Travis Timmerman, said he had crossed into Syria from neighboring Lebanon months ago on a ‘pilgrimage’ to Damascus.
An American citizen who was found in Syria on Thursday told reporters he had been imprisoned for seven months and freed by armed men from his cell on Monday following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The man, who identified himself as Travis Pete Timmerman, said earlier this year he had crossed into Syria from neighboring Lebanon and was thrown into a Damascus prison by a border guard. He told NBC News he was traveling “on a pilgrimage” and told CBS News it was for “spiritual purposes.”
The Missouri native’s presence in Syria was not widely known previously.
Two men with AK-47s and a hammer broke down his door as he slept Monday, he said.
“It woke me up,” Timmerman told CBS. “… Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting.”
On Thursday, locals notified Nizar Zakka, head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, that a foreign former prisoner was roaming the streets. “The only way we knew about it was from his accent. I immediately thought that he was American,” Zakka said.
Zakka told The Washington Post that Timmerman was with authorities and that arrangements were being made to take him out of Syria through Lebanon.
Timmerman’s mother, Stacey Gardiner, told The Post she was overjoyed and crying “happy tears.”
