Zahra Shikder was 11 when she and her older brother Yusuf were taken from Hollywood, Florida, on March 15, 2015. This was not a routine disappearance: their mother, Rashida Sumaiya Shikder, left Miami with the children while their father, Bashirul Shikder, was on pilgrimage and traveled to Turkey, then crossed into Raqqah, Syria, which at the time was under ISIS control.

A month after arriving in Syria Rashida told Bashirul their location and said her passport had been taken. Intermittent contact continued until 2019, when Bashirul was told by a sister-in-law that Rashida had been killed in a bombing raid and that Zahra and Yusuf had been injured. After Rashida’s reported death, it is believed the children may have been taken by an ISIS affiliate and could still be in Syria or moved to Iraq; as of March 2018 they were believed to have been in Sha afa, Syria.

The FBI is investigating and the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program has offered up to $5 million for information leading to the children’s recovery and return. An age-progressed image of Zahra has been circulated; the siblings are of Bengali descent and speak English and Bengali. If anyone has information, contact the local FBI office or the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.