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."

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

Travis Timmerman, a missing American from Missouri, was freed from a Syrian prison and found Thursday outside of Damascus trying to make his way out of the country on foot. Timmerman was held for seven months after entering Syria illegally,