The State Department said Friday that a U.S. citizen held in Syria has been released by the Syrian authorities. The Washington Post and The Associated Press quoted two unidentified U.S. officials as saying the freed American was a freelance photographer, Kevin Patrick Dawes, who had been missing in the war-ravaged country for nearly four years.
"We can confirm and welcome the news that a U.S. citizen was released by Syrian authorities," the State Department spokesman, John Kirby, said in a statement. "The United States continues to work through every possible means to ensure the safe release of U.S. citizens reported missing or taken hostage in Syria."
State Department officials declined to confirm the identify of the released American, citing privacy concerns.
Dawes, 33, from Renton, Washington, is one of roughly two dozen journalists who have disappeared in Syria over the course of the war, making it one of the world's most dangerous places for news gathering. Another U.S. journalist, Austin Tice, has been missing in Syria for four years as well.
The Washington Post first reported the release Friday. An FBI missing-person bulletin says that Dawes traveled to Syria in September of 2012 and that the last known contact with him was in October 2012.