A video released by Islamic State militants in Iraq appears to show the beheading of U.S. photojournalist James Wright Foley.
In the five minute clip entitled "A Message to America", Foley reads what seems to be a coerced statement, calling on his friends and family to "rise up against my real killers, the U.S. government."
He is then executed by an ISIS militant, who is heard speaking English.
The White House National Security Council is working to establish the authenticity of the video.
Foley was abducted in northern Syria on Thanksgiving Day in 2012.
Rebecca Bowring reports on his life and work.
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40 year-old James Foley was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, and began his career as a teacher -- once teaching prison inmates in Arizona.
He studied journalism at Northwestern University and for his first assignment travelled to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army.
He also reported on the turmoil in Libya, where he was held captive in 2011 for 44 days. One of his colleagues was killed.
In an interview following his release, Foley told the Boston Globe he had faith in the power of journalism.
SOT James Wright Foley
You don't want to be defined as the guy who got captured in 2011, you know. I believe front-line journalism is important. You know, without these photos and videos and firsthand experience you can't really tell the world about how bad it might be.
Foley was working for both Global Post and Agence France Presse covering the civil war in Syria when he was abducted at gunpoint on November 22nd, 2012, near the town of Taftanaz in the northwest of the country.
He had not been heard from since.
His family, on their "Free James Foley" Facebook page, have not confirmed his death.
ISIS claims to also be holding a second journalist, Steven Joel Soltoff, who disappeared in Syria a year ago.