US hostage envoy arrives in Syria as part of search for Austin Tice

FILE - Debra Tice, mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, holds a dated portrait of him during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 20, 2017.

A group of U.S. diplomats were in Syria to hold talks Friday with the country’s new leaders and seek information about the whereabouts of detained American journalist Austin Tice, following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.