Missing American Travis Timmerman's recovery in Syria a 'Christmas miracle,' loved ones say
Family and friends of the Missouri man who was imprisoned in Syria after he said he crossed into the country on a "pilgrimage" to Damascus hailed his unexpected recovery as a "Christmas miracle" on Thursday after about seven months with no contact.
Family and friends of the Missouri man who was imprisoned in Syria after he said he crossed into the country on a "pilgrimage" to Damascus hailed his unexpected recovery as a "Christmas miracle" on Thursday after about seven months with no contact.
"We're very blessed that he is safe, that he is good, that he is protected," Pixie Rogers said of her brother, Travis Timmerman. "And I saw on the news that he got fed."
Timmerman, 29, who is from Urbana, Missouri, a small community north of Springfield, initially identified himself only as "Travis" in a video that emerged overnight that led some to misidentify him as missing American journalist Austin Tice, 43.
Travis Timmerman with his sister, Pixie Rogers.Pixie RogersBut Timmerman's family said that he, too, had been missing, although they had no clue he was in Syria.
"I'm not sure what his thinking was in that," Rogers said of her brother entering a country in conflict. "I wouldn't think he'd do something like that."
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