Richard Engel Missing in Syria: Popular NBC News Foreign Correspondent Whereabouts Unknown, America News Blackout Broken

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.

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.