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."

The 29-year-old from Missouri's Ozarks had last been seen in Budapest, Hungary. He said he was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon and held in prison until the fall of the Assad regime.

Travis Timmerman, 29, from Missouri, was found this week by residents wandering barefoot in a suburb south of Syria's capital.

An American called Travis Timmerman who claims to have entered Syria on foot is now free after spending seven months in detention.

A man freed from a Syrian prison on Thursday after monthslong imprisonment identified himself as Travis Timmerman, an American reported missing by law enforcement earlier this year after traveling to Hungary.