( CNN ) -- The parents of a U.S. journalist missing in Syria are on their way to Beirut , Lebanon , where they hope to `` seek out people who can help facilitate his release , '' the family said Sunday . Austin Tice , who was working as a freelancer for McClatchy and other news outlets , last contacted his family on August 13 while in Syria reporting on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad 's government . He was preparing to leave Syria for neighboring Lebanon when he went missing , according to his family . `` It 's more to seek out people who can help facilitate his release , '' a family spokesperson told CNN . `` ( His parents ) will be giving a few interviews , but the focus is on making themselves available to those who can help . 'Help ' in the sense of intervening directly with his captors . '' The U.S. State Department has said it believes Tice was detained by Syrian officials in August as he was preparing to leave the country . He had smuggled himself into the country to report on the uprising . In November , Marc Tice , Austin Tice 's father , told reporters that the Syrian government had told his family that it does n't know where their son is . In October , a shaky video surfaced on YouTube showing a man believed to be Tice surrounded by armed men walking him up a hill . State Department officials have questioned the veracity of the video , which purports to show Tice in the custody of rebels fighting the Syrian government . Tice 's parents told CNN last year they do not want to speculate about who is holding him ; they just want their son back home . Austin is the oldest of the couple 's seven children . Two French journalists missing in Syria .
Spokesperson : `` The focus is on making themselves available to those who can help '' Marc Tice last contacted his family on August while in U.S. . State Department has said it believes he was detained by Syrian officials . The French government has said it does n't know where the journalist is .