On Thursday, the Tices, four of their other children, two sons-in-law and a granddaughter celebrated Austin Tice's birthday with a meal at a Mexican restaurant and a show at Houston's Miller Outdoor Theater. The theater is one of his favorite places in Houston, and they think it's what he would want to do.
Austin Tice was working as a freelance journalist in Syria for McClatchy, The Washington Post and other news organizations when he vanished on what was supposed to be a journey to Lebanon and a break after two and a half months covering the civil war. He had been scheduled to enter his final year of law school at Georgetown University that fall, and the Syria reporting excursion had been viewed with trepidation by his parents.
But Tice, home-schooled in a large Roman Catholic family, with six brothers and sisters, had always been adventurous. He'd been an Eagle Scout and a Marine Corps officer. He wrote on his Facebook page that his foray in Syria was in part a search to shake off what he felt had become a horribly risk-averse national outlook. "Our granddads would have whipped our asses," he wrote.
He stayed in touch as he traveled in Syria, emailing with his father on the day before he vanished from Darayya, a rebel-occupied town south of Damascus. That would be the last communication Marc Tice would receive from his son. Aug. 14 would be the first day of what has now been four years of silence. The only proof of Austin Tice's situation came in a video posted on the internet six weeks later that showed him being guided up a hill by a group of armed men.
There's little hard public information on what has happened to him since. The Syrian government denies holding him, and he is not thought ever to have been held by the Islamic State, which executed three other American hostages two years ago. The State Department declines to provide specifics, citing privacy concerns.
"We are still working constantly in every direction we can" to win his freedom, his father said.
Those efforts have meant five trips to the region for the Tices to publicize their son's plight and endless conversations with a wide range of officials, former officials and interested parties. A publicity campaign organized by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders helped raise awareness of his disappearance. The families of the executed Americans, James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig, and of Kayla Mueller, an American who died in uncertain circumstances while in Islamic State custody, have written letters and lobbied the U.S. government to press harder on Austin Tice's behalf.
Most encouraging has been what Marc Tice calls a change in the commitment of the Obama administration to help negotiate their son's return home. After years in which administration hostage policy was seen as largely unhelpful, U.S. officials now seem more committed to finding a way to make Austin Tice part of their priorities.
The idea of having to start over with a new administration is "really a painful thought," Marc Tice said.
Their hope: The Obama administration will take advantage of any opportunity to bring their son into discussions about Syria policy.
"Any ongoing decisions might help in bringing Austin home," Marc Tice said.
Every week, one or two people still contact them, offering support.
The Tices are waiting for it all to pay off. As for success, "we only have one measure," he said.