TOPSHOT - US journalist Shelly Kittleson poses for a picture in Baghdad on March 31, 2026. Kittleson was kidnapped on March 31, in Baghdad by a suspected Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, the United States said, as regional security deteriorates foll …
BAGHDAD - American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday, April 7. Kittleson is a Wisconsin native.
Kittleson in the Middle East
The backstory:
Kittleson, 49, has lived abroad for years, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East. On Tuesday, she vanished after being forced into a car by two men at a busy Baghdad intersection, surveillance camera footage showed.
The Wisconsin native is kind and spiritual, friends say, and she embraced Islam.
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Kittleson left Wisconsin in 1995, when she was 19, and headed first to Italy, where she went to school and worked as a nanny, according to her mother, Barb Kittleson. She spent about 10 years in Italy before eventually settling in Iraq, she added.
In recent weeks, Iraq has been caught in the crossfire of the Iran war as the only country facing strikes from both sides. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on American facilities there since the start of the fighting.
Mother's perspective
Dig deeper:
Kittleson's mother said she has not seen her daughter in person since 2002, but they exchanged emails a couple of times a week, including on Monday, when her daughter sent her a couple of pictures.
"She said, ‘Here’s a current picture of me,’" her mother told The Associated Press. "That’s what she does a lot of times, quickly."
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Kittleson is a vegetarian, a lifestyle her close Iraqi friends said is often difficult to accommodate in meat-heavy Middle Eastern countries. She frequently got teased for her backbreaking bags, which she was reluctant to leave behind at the modest hotel in Baghdad where she stayed.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by The Associated Press and previous FOX6 News coverage.