Parents of kidnapped journalist frustrated by extortion attempts

Two years after American journalist Austin Tice was kidnapped in Syria, his parents are still hopeful for his return, but they say they've been frustrated by extortion attempts.

"There have been several times when people have contacted us in one way or another, saying, 'I know where your son is. I know who has your son,'" father Marc Tice said in an interview with CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward. "Almost invariably, the next-- you know, the second or third communication says, you know, 'For only X dollars, I can try to get you in touch with him.' When we push back and say, 'Well, you know, give us some kind of evidence that you're-- have contact with him'-- then it just, you know, vanishes. Poof."

These dashed moments of hope have hardened them, Marc said.

"It's happened a couple times this summer -- you know, we look at that email and we say, 'Oh, yeah, there's another one,' you know?" Marc said.

"Oh, look, it's another reverse lottery ticket we owe," mother Debra Tice said.

Yet Marc said they can't not follow up.

"One of the things I worry about is that one of those contacts will be legitimate and be real, and so we can't, you know, not take them seriously," Marc said.

They are more guarded with the correspondences, however.

"We're ... a little bit cynical about it, honestly," Marc said. "And that's -- you know, doesn't feel good."

The last time the Tices were given an indication of how their son Austin was doing was in May.

"We'll hear through a third, four, fifth party, never directly attributed to a source, but we'll be told by someone that we trust or believe -- who has no reason, you know, to be telling us anything other than the truth -- that 'Don't worry. Austin's okay. He's being treated well. Be patient. He'll come home,'" Marc said.

The Tices believe it.

"There's no reason not to. ... But our hope doesn't hinge on that. If it did, it'd be very frustrating, because that was May. I mean, that's been months ago," Marc said.

Their biggest frustration has been the lack of a "guideline" as they search and wait for Austin.

"We've said many times, and we know other families in this situation have also said, 'There's no manual for this. There's no playbook.' That's really frustrating," Marc said. "You want to be able to go to someone and have them tell you, 'This is what you need to do.'"

Yet Marc said he cannot underestimate or fail to express how many people have supported their family as they wait for Austin's return, including journalists, government agencies, NGOs and people of faith.

"But they don't have a checklist either, right?" Marc said.

"No," Debra responded.

"You find out pretty quickly that it's kind of your baby, and it's kind of up to you to decide -- do you go public, do you stay quiet? What do you say? Who do you say it to? Who do you reach out to? How do you reach out to them? You realize that even with all the 'team,' so to speak, around you, you know, the inner circle and the outer circle and the fringe, you know -- it's Debi and I."