Debra Tice wrote to the Israeli prime minister that her family had “credible information” that Austin Tice may be held in a prison outside Damascus, in an area where Israel had been conducting military operations.

Asked Sunday 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.

The U.S. State Department on Monday said there is no U.S. government organization currently on the ground in Syria for the search of Austin Tice, an American journalist taken captive during a reporting trip in August 2012,