The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, voiced hope on Sunday that upheaval in Syria will lead to freedom for her son.

Debra Tice said news that Missouri resident Travis Timmerman had been freed from a Syrian prison by rebels felt “like a rehearsal.” Her children woke her up when images of Timmerman began circulating on social media misidentifying him as Tice.

Asked if Timmerman’s misidentification was a moment of false hope, Debra Tice instead characterized it as a moment of joy to be shared. Timmerman has said he had traveled into Syria for a spiritual mission earlier this year and was arrested for entering the country illegally.

AMERICAN FREED FROM SYRIAN PRISON AFTER ASSAD’S OVERTHROW TAKEN OUT OF COUNTRY BY US MILITARY

“It was almost like having a rehearsal … an inkling of what it’s really going to feel like when it is Austin walking free,” she told NBC television’s “Meet the Press”.

Tice is the focus of a massive search following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week after 13 years of civil war. Rebels, led by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, have released thousands of people from prisons in Damascus where Assad held political opponents, ordinary civilians and foreigners.

A week after Assad’s ouster, some U.S. officials fear that Tice could have been killed during a recent round of Israeli airstrikes. Officials are also concerned that if Tice was being held underground in a cell, he may have run out of breathable air as Assad’s forces shut off the electricity in many of the prisons in Damascus before the president fled.   

Debra Tice said the news of Travis Timmerman’s recent prison release from Syria has given her newfound hope that her son Austin Tice will walk free. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call)

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Asked whether the U.S. government should be looking for Tice on the ground in Syria, Debra Tice was cautious, expressing gratitude for efforts by journalists and other civilians on the ground searching for him, including from the organization Hostage Aid Worldwide.

“The U.S. government has made the decision that they’re not going into Damascus. So, my feeling is, if they don’t want to be there, they shouldn’t be there. And the people that are there are the people that are determined,” she said.

Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for the Washington Post and McClatchy, was one of the first U.S. journalists to make it into Syria after the outbreak of the civil war.

Debra Tice holds a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on May 2, 2023. (Evelyn Hockstein)

In August 2012, during fighting in Aleppo, he was taken captive.

Weeks later, a YouTube video was published showing Tice blindfolded, hands tied behind his back. He was led up a hill by armed men in what appeared to be Afghan garb and shouting “God is great” in an apparent bid to blame Islamist rebels for his capture, although the video only gained attention when it was posted on a Facebook page associated with Assad supporters.

On Friday, Reuters was first to report that in 2013 Tice, a former Marine, managed to slip out of his cell and was seen moving between houses in the streets of Damascus’ upscale Mazzeh neighborhood.

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the Season 5, Episode 14 episode of “Yellowstone,” “Life Is a Promise” which premiered Sunday, Dec. 15 on Paramount Network.

Even if Paramount Network isn’t calling it the series finale, Sunday’s “Yellowstone” episode certainly felt like the end of the show fans have known for five seasons.

Coming in the wake of last week’s fire sale of nearly everything on the ranch, the series’ wandering souls were left adrift.

There were some goodbyes early on, as Jimmy (Jefferson White), Mia (Eden Brolin) and Travis (Taylor Sheridan) headed back home to the 6666 in Texas, with Teeter (Jen Landon) promising to come down in a week looking for work. Walker (Ryan Bingham) says he’s going to follow his rodeo champ girlfriend around the circuit. Beth (Kelly Reilly) announces she bought a ranch outside of Dillion — far away from tourists and airports — for her to live with Rip (Cole Hauser). Rip offers Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) a job on their new ranch, but he declines, saying he needs to find himself.

Meanwhile, Beth and Rip prepare for the funeral of her father, John Dutton (Kevin Costner). At the same time, Kayce (Luke Grimes) tells Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) of his plan from the end of the last episode, specifically to let the Broken Rock Reservation buy the Yellowstone for $1.25 an acre, as it was sold to the Duttons originally.

It’s a nice moment, as Chief Rainwater and John Dutton were always the men most concerned with keeping the land pristine. And given how their conflicts in the past were always mild, it’s a sensible partnership. Additionally, Kayce works out a deal to keep his small ranch with Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill), which is a sweet touch.

Cut to everyone on the ranch preparing for John’s burial — and the metaphorical funeral of the Yellowstone itself. Jamie (Wes Bentley) spends the time prepping for how he’s going to start an investigation into both John and Sarah’s (Dawn Olivieri) murders, hoping to wiggle out of any political repercussions, as was discussed in the previous episode.

The funeral was classy and small, with Beth promising retribution to John’s coffin, and then Rip burying it himself and saying he’ll take care of Beth. Of course, immediately after, Beth tears off in her car, armed with bear spray and a big ol’ knife.

After sneaking up on Jamie at his house, Beth and her estranged brother have a bloody, knockdown brawl. It looks like Jamie might choke Beth to death, only for Rip to interrupt, grab him and free up Beth to deliver a fatal stab wound to Jamie. Farewell, Jamie — your scheming always kept things interesting!

Rip and Lloyd take one more trip to the Train Station with Jamie’s body as Beth promises to work with the police to tie him to both John and Sarah’s murders.

As things wrap up, cowboy Ryan (Ian Bohen) apologizes to country star Abby (Lainey Wilson) and heads off with her for life on the road. Rip walks through the empty grounds of the ranch, shutting the door on the bunkhouse, while Beth surveys the big, empty main house one more time with Kayce.

As the episode ends, the tribe takes over the land and starts to remove the Dutton signage, while preserving the graveyard. The closing voiceover is from Elsa Dutton (Isabel May), their ancestor who appeared in prequel series “1883” and “1923,” as Kayce’s family starts ranching on their own terms, as does Rip and Carter (Finn Little) on their land with Beth.

As for the future of the show? Just this week Reilly and Hauser signed up for a new spinoff of the series, so it’s clear “Yellowstone” will return — even if it’s in a different capacity.

Happy trails, “Yellowstone” fans!