A man identifying himself as Missourian Travis Timmerman tells CBS News he was liberated from a Syrian prison upon dictator Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

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.

The Missouri man, who was reported missing by Hungarian police in an alert published in June, appears to have been freed along with thousands of other detainees who have been emerging from Syria's jails following the toppling of the country's longtime dictator President Bashar Assad earlier this month.

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."

A Missouri man found in Syria said early Friday he was freed following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad after seven months in prison.

I was on a pilgrimage to Damascus,” Travis Timmerman told NBC News in a building on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Thursday after his release following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

An American who turned up in Syria says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago.

Travis Timmerman, a US citizen, has been freed after months of detention in a Syrian prison following the Assad regime's overthrow. He was found on Th

The man told reporters that his name was Travis Timmerman and that he had entered Syria on a religious pilgrimage. He said he had been detained for months.

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