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."

The 29-year-old from Missouri's Ozarks had last been seen in Budapest, Hungary. He said he was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon and held in prison until the fall of the Assad regime.

Travis Timmerman, 29, from Missouri, was found this week by residents wandering barefoot in a suburb south of Syria's capital.

Travis Timmerman, an American from Missouri who was imprisoned in Syria, told NBC News he had been on a pilgrimage to Damascus. Video led some to thing he was Austin Tice.

An American called Travis Timmerman who claims to have entered Syria on foot is now free after spending seven months in detention.

An American man found wandering the streets outside the Syrian capital of Damascus barefoot identified himself as Pete Travis Timmerman on Thursday. Timmerman was last seen in Budapest, Hungary, in June and had not been heard from in months.