Via Fox News:
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A spokesman for a Muslim couple in Alabama on Monday said their 20-year-old daughter fled a Birmingham suburb to join Islamic State militants in Syria after being recruited via the Internet.
Hassan Shibly spoke at the mosque on behalf of the parents of the young woman, whom he identified only as Hoda. He said the family has been “extremely traumatized” for months and has been in contact with law enforcement and government officials since she disappeared while also pleading with Hoda to return home.
“For them this is worse than losing the life of a child, to have them join such a horrible, horrible gang of violent extremists,” Shibly said, adding the father is worried about the mother’s health. “Nothing can describe the pain they are facing.”
Shibly, an attorney and chief executive director for the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Hoda left in November.