Ethermac Exchange-Man identifying himself as American Travis Timmerman found in Syria after being freed from prison

A man identifying himself as an American from Missouri,Ethermac Exchange Travis Timmerman, was found Thursday in Syria after he said he was freed from a prison earlier in the week, when longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad was forced from powerby a shock rebel offensive. 

Timmerman told CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer that he had been trying to make his own way out of the country after walking out of the prison where he'd been held for more than half of a year. He said he was detained upon entering Syria without permission seven months ago after spending a month in neighboring Lebanon.

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

"In terms of an American citizen who was found just today, I can't give you any details on exactly what's going to happen except to say that we're working to bring them home, to bring them out of Syria and to bring them home," Blinken said. "But for privacy reasons, I can't share any more detail than that at this point."

A U.S. official previously told CBS News the government was aware of the reports that an American had been found outside Damascus and that it was seeking to provide support, but the official declined to provide any further detail out of respect for his privacy.  

Timmerman said two men armed with AK-47s broke his prison door down Monday with a hammer.

"My door was busted down, it woke me up," Timmerman said. "I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being… Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting."

Timmerman said he had gone to Syria for Christian "spiritual purposes" and that his experience in prison "wasn't too bad."

"I was never beaten. The only really bad part was that I couldn't go to the bathroom when I wanted to. I was only let out three times a day to go to the bathroom," he said.

Timmerman said he left the prison with a large group and started walking away. He said he had been trying to head toward Jordan.

He said he "had a few moments of fear," when he left the prison, and hadn't really processed that he was free.

"I still haven't really thought about that. I've been more worried about finding a place to sleep each night since then," he told CBS News. "So I've been working, really."

Timmerman said he hadn't been afraid to approach people to ask for help or a place to sleep at night on his journey.

"They were coming to me, mostly," Timmerman said, adding that he'd spoken with his family three weeks ago, through a phone that he had while in prison. He said he had been allowed to use it.

"I'm feeling well. I've been fed and I've been watered, so I'm feeling well," Timmerman said.

Timmerman was named as "Travis Pete Timmerman" on a missing person's bulletin published by Hungarian police in August, which said he had been last seen at a church in the country.

A missing person's bulletin published by the Missouri State Highway Patrol said that Timmerman, whose first name was listed as Pete, had been last seen in Budapest. The bulletin said the date of his last contact had been June 2, 2024, and that he was 29 years old when he went missing.

Camilla Schickand Joanne Stockercontributed to this report.

In:
• Bashar al-Assad
• Breaking News
• Syria

Haley Ott

Haley Ott is the CBS News Digital international reporter, based in the CBS News London bureau.

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