journalist Austin Tice, reacts after a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon December 4, 2018.
Austin Tice, a former U.S. Marine and a freelance journalist, was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
President Joe Biden last year said Washington knows "with certainty" that Tice has at times been held by the Syrian government.
"We’re extensively engaged with regard to Austin – engaged with Syria, engaged with third countries – seeking to find a way to get him home.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that the Biden administration has renewed direct talks with Syria over Tice's case and those of other Americans, citing Middle East officials familiar with the efforts.