BY Danica Bellini,Mstarz reporter | Dec 17, 2012 06:30 PM EST
(Photo : Twitter) Popular NBC News correspondent supposedly missing in Syria.
Recent reports allege that Richard Engel, the popular and well-respected NBC News foreign correspondent, has gone missing in Syria. Engel and Aziz Akyavaş, a Turkish journalist who was working with him, have been unaccounted for in the Asian country since December 13. Turkish media has been circulating the "missing persons" report for several days, but up until Monday (Dec. 14) American news outlets had been operating under a "news blackout" requested by NBC. Gawker was the first social media gossip site in the U.S. to report on Engel's being missing.
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According to reports, Engel's last report was on Dec. 11 and his last tweet was on Dec. 6, which is worrisome since Engel is an avid tweeter.
Upon hearing the news in the States, Engel's NBC colleague David Shuster tweeted his concern about the missing journalist and author:
@DavidShuster: "Original report from Turkish media... Praying its wrong. RT@sallykohn: My thoughts are with NBC's Richard Engel, missing in Syria."
Gawker decided to break NBC's news blackout because, according to blogger John Cook, " I would not have written a post if someone had told me that there was a reasonable or even remote suspicion that anything specific [like the men's death] would happen if I wrote the post."
Engel, who is not married and has no children, is one of the only western journalists to cover the entire war in Iraq. He joined NBC News in May 2003 and became the station's chief foreign correspondent in 2008. As the correspondent in charge of NBC's Middle East bureau, Engel has been reporting on the ongoing conflict between rebels and supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Engel is widely recognized for his coverage of wars, revolutions, and political transitions around the world over the past 15 years. Engel's work and dedication has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism for his report "War Zone Diary," five News & Documentary Emmys, the Edward R. Murrow Award for "Baghdad E.R.," the Daniel Pearl Award/David Bloom Award/Overseas Press Club Award in recognition of his coverage of the war in Afghanistan, and the Gracie Award for his work on "Unlikely Refugees."
Meanwhile, NBC continues to try and enforce the news blackout. The popular American broadcasting network has taken to Twitter, asking people/reporters who repost the Turkish reports to promptly take them down. NBC News declined to comment about Engel's whereabouts, and allegedly asked Gawker not to report on "rumors" about Engel's current status.
Video showing rocket strike near camera from a citizen journalist broadcasting live footage from Homs, Syria on February 9. At least two journalists were released after being held captive in Syria for approximately five days according to . Turkish journalist Aziz Akyavaş and  journalist  went missing on Thursday. Both work for  and were on assignment in the country.

"After being kidnapped and held for five days inside Syria by an unknown group, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his production crew members have been freed unharmed. We are pleased to report they are safely out of the country," said NBC News in a statement on their website.

Earlier , the Turkish language partner of , reported Akyavaş may have been , but they also added,  The Kuwait  reported Akyavaş may have been kidnapped, but also reported Engel was the one who announced Akyavaş was missing. 

The journalists went missing after crossing into Syria from the Turkish border. NBC News says Engel and others were tied up, blindfolded, and put in the back of a truck and driven to possibly near the Syrian town of . When they were moved to another location, the kidnappers accidentally approached a Syrian rebel checkpoint and a gunfight broke out. Two unnamed captors were killed in the attack, but Engel and others were able to escape. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and no one was injured. NBC News never had contact with their captors and a ransom demand was never made. 

Little was initially known about the situation. At first, NBC didn't officially acknowledge either of the journalists were missing and according to , they website was "subject to a news blackout — one to which Gawker agreed until now — for at least the past 24 hours." 

Engel is a regular user of the social networking website Twitter and has not posted a 'Tweet' since December 6. His last official report was filed on December 11. 

In February, ''Wikinews'' reported journalists were apparently targeted in Syrian government attacks, and some of them killed. On February 9, a Syrian citizen journalist named 'Omar' was airing a live feed of the bombardment of Homs when several rockets struck near the camera's position, nearly destroying it. On February 21, a member of the Homs Media Center was killed by a rocket as Syrian forces continued their bombardment of the city for an eighteenth straight day. A day later, , a  journalist, and award winning French photographer , were killed when rockets again hit the media center. At least two others were injured in the attack, French journalist Edith Bouvier and British photographer Paul Conroy.