Shelly Kittleson, an American freelance journalist, has gone missing in Iraq. On March 31, 2026, the nation’s Ministry of the Interior revealed that a female reporter from the U.S. had been kidnapped and that efforts were underway to rescue her, according to The Hill.
Alex Plitsas, a former Pentagon official and National Security Analyst for CNN, identified the reporter as Kittleson via X, tweeting that he is her “designated U.S. point of contact” and that her location and condition were unknown. Plitsas later tweeted that Kittleson is “one of the kindest people youâll ever meet.” Here’s what you need to know:
1. Shelly Kittleson is a Freelance Reporter for Al-Monitor
Kittleson is a freelance reporter for Al-Monitor, a Washington DC-based news outlet focused on news in the Middle East. After her kidnapping, the outlet reported that Kittleson is based in Rome and “known for her courageous reporting from war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.”
Al-Monitor also reported that a US official, speaking under the condition of anonymity, “said the State Department is aware of Kittleson’s kidnapping and is working with the Iraqi government to secure her release.” Another US official, the outlet reported, said “Kittleson was contacted multiple times” with warnings there were threats against her, including the night before she was abducted.
In a statement issued on March 31, Al-Monitor’s staff said, “We are deeply alarmed by the kidnapping of Al-Monitor contributor Shelly Kittleson in Iraq on Tuesday. We call for her safe and immediate release. We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.”
2. Shelly Kittleson is from Wisconsin & Had a ‘Desire’ to Report on World Conflicts at an Early Age
Kittleson is 49, according to the New York Post. In an interview with Imperial War Museums, Kittleson explained that although she was well aware of the dangers associated with reporting from high-conflict zones, she’d been inspired to do so since she was young.
âI’d have to say that that is due in part to National Geographic,” she said. “My grandmother collected them. I’m from a very poor family in the Midwest, in Wisconsin.” Looking through the pages of National Geographic, she recalled “desire to be a part of documenting history and in some form, and war does determine the course of history, so I wanted to be a part of that, basically.â
She told the organization that she worked on her photography skills as she was beginning her journalism career, in late 2010, noting, “I took off for Afghanistan and started writing and taking photos there.”
3. Reporting From War Zones Has Given Shelly Kittleson a ‘Purpose in Life’
In 2017, Kittleson spoke to TRT World for a video series called “Women on War,” and said she did not like being called a “war journalist,” but said reporting from war zones “has changed me a lot.”
“Hopefully for the better,” she noted. “I’ve learnt quite a lot. It’s difficult without going into long stories about exactly how. How has it changed me? It’s clearly given me a purpose in life, to a certain extent. It has also given me nightmares at times. That’s normal.”
Kittleson said her first time reporting from an “active war zone” was in Syria in 2012, and that after years of hiding during bombings made her cringe at the sound of fireworks, explaining, “On New Year’s Eve, I always have to find somewhere that I do not have to listen to them.”
4. Shelly Kittleson Has Received Awards for Her Brave Reporting
In June 2024, Kittleson celebrated that she’d received a meaningful award in Italy, posting a photo of the award and writing, “I just spent a few brief days back in Italy, where I was awarded the Premio Civitas 2024 for my ‘passion and courage at the service of truth at any cost.’ Honored and happy to see continued appreciation for journalists and journalism in such difficult times for the profession.”
According to USA Today, she won another “coveted Italian journalism award,” called the Premio Caravella, in 2017.
5. Shelly Kittleson Once Said She Didn’t Have Much Family to Worry About Her Safety
When an interviewer from Imperial War Museums asked Kittleson around a decade ago how she kept her loved ones from worrying too much about her, she said, “I’m well, I don’t really have a family much … no, that’s fine.”
“That has definite advantages in my line of work,” she continued, “in terms of I have nobody who’s going to … I mean, I don’t have children, I don’t have a husband. I don’t have all of these people around who could be, you know, very worried about me or negatively affected if something happened to me.”
But her main U.S. contact, Plitsas, would likely disagree. Hours after Kittleson’s kidnapping, he tweeted, “Shelly is one of the kindest people youâll ever meet … She is religious and doesnât have a mean bone in her body.”
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