The 29-year-old said he was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon and held in prison until the fall of Assad. Timmerman's family called it a "Christmas miracle."

A man freed from a Syrian prison on Thursday after monthslong imprisonment identified himself as Travis Timmerman, an American reported missing by law enforcement earlier this year after traveling to Hungary.

Described as a Christmas miracle by his family, American citizen Travis Timmerman has been found in Syria after being unexpectedly detained for seven months while making a pilgrimage in an effort to