Kidnapped by jihadists 12 years ago in Syria, the American journalist is still alive

The family of Austin Tice, a former US Marine turned journalist who was kidnapped by jihadist militants in 2012 while reporting in Syria, says he is still alive, citing a "significant source" they did not identify but said had been verified by the US government and treated as credible.

Tice, 43, was a captain in the Marine Corps and traveled to Syria as a freelance journalist in May 2012, before his senior year at Georgetown Law School.

The American from Texas was covering events in Syria for McClatchy, reporting for The Washington Post and other news organizations, when he disappeared just days after turning 31. He was kidnapped while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. No one has claimed responsibility for his abduction.

"We have from a significant source that has been verified within our government: Austin Tice is alive," his mother Debra Tice told reporters at the National Press Club on Friday, before heading to the White House for a meeting with other relatives.

"He's being taken care of and he's fine, we know that," Debra Tice said.

A video released weeks after his abduction showed him blindfolded and held by armed men, saying, "Oh, Jesus." They chanted "Allahu-Akbar" throughout the clip and at one point forced him to recite a prayer in Arabic.

He has not been seen since then.

Syria has publicly denied holding the journalist hostage. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Tice's family on Friday afternoon, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

"Jake Sullivan had a meeting with the family of Austin Tice this afternoon, and ... Jake Sullivan has been meeting regularly with the families of Americans who have been wrongly detained," she said. "We will continue to make sure that we get Americans who have been wrongly detained or Americans home to their families."

"Austin Tice's family, I can't even imagine what they're going through," she added.