( CNN ) -- The parents of an American journalist missing in Syria have a new message for his captors : `` Let us be a whole family again . '' In a statement published Thursday on the McClatchy Newspapers website , Austin Tice 's parents say he went to Syria to share the stories of the country 's people . `` We urge you , whoever you are : Let Austin come home for Christmas , '' Marc and Debra Tice wrote . `` Let us hug him , laugh and cry with him , love him in person . '' 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 reportedly preparing to leave Syria for Lebanon when he went missing , according to his family . Read more : Syrian government denies holding missing journalist , father says . In Thursday 's statement , Marc and Debra Tice describe their son as someone who has `` a special affinity for the people of the Middle East . '' `` He is especially attracted to your tradition of hospitality , '' the statement said . `` He deeply connects with your intense loyalty to family , faith and ideals . '' The U.S. State Department has said they believe 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 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 . Read more : Video appears to show missing U.S. journalist blindfolded and in distress . Earlier this month , Tice 's parents told CNN 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 . `` He likes to know what 's going on in the world , '' Debra Tice said earlier this month , and he was frustrated by the lack firsthand reporting from Syria 's civil war . She said her son had reassured her that it was worth it to travel to Syria . `` I 'm someone that can go , '' he told her . `` I can face that danger because this story is important . ' '' CNN 's Elwyn Lopez , Claire Calzonetti , Samuel Burke and Mick Krever contributed to this report .
Marc and Debra Tice : `` We urge you , whoever you are : Let Austin come home for Christmas '' Austin Tice last contacted his family on August 13 while in Syria . The State Department has said it believes he was detained by Syrian officials . The Syrian government has said it does n't know where the journalist is .