Released from Syrian custody on Thursday, an American man revealed he had been detained by the Bashar al-Assad regime after entering the country on foot seven months prior while undertaking a Christian pilgrimage.

Travis Timmerman’s release was first publicized via an online video that surfaced after rebel forces reportedly captured Damascus and ousted Assad.

The video depicted a bearded Timmerman under a blanket on a mattress in what seemed to be a private residence. Men in the video asserted he was well-treated and would be safely repatriated, according to The Associated Press.

Some viewers initially mistook Timmerman for Austin Tice, an American journalist and Marine veteran who vanished in Syria twelve years earlier. Tice remains missing, although U.S. officials reportedly believe him to be alive.

Timmerman later clarified in an interview that his detention followed his illegal entry into Syria from Zahle, Lebanon.

He described humane treatment by his guards but noted hearing the daily torture of other detainees, whom he believed were young men.

“My treatment was adequate. I received food and water. The only difficulty was restricted bathroom access,” he stated, explaining that guards permitted access only three times daily.

“I wasn’t beaten, and the guards treated me respectfully,” he added.

U.S. officials have yet to comment on Timmerman’s release.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government dispatched its lead hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, to Lebanon earlier this week to gather information on Tice’s whereabouts.

Tice disappeared in August 2012 while covering the uprising against the Assad regime, an event marking the Syrian civil war’s early stages.

Weeks after his disappearance, Tice appeared in a video, blindfolded and held by armed men, uttering the words, “Oh, Jesus.”