From Benghazi to Raqqa, a Kansas Woman Left a ‘Trail of Betrayal’

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."One family member who was with Fluke-Ekren in Iraq and Syria told U.S. investigators how the former Kansas mom “explained that she could go to a shopping mall in the United States, park a vehicle full of explosives in the basement or parking garage level of the structure, and detonate the explosives in the vehicle with a cell phone triggering device,” according to court documents.

Fluke-Ekren’s parents and adult children want no contact with her, Parekh said during a court hearing in January. One family member, Parekh said at the hearing Tuesday, “told me that the defendant has left a ‘trail of betrayal.’”

Amer, the former friend, said she and Fluke-Ekren moved together from the Midwest to Cairo and applied to become teachers. Years later, when Fluke-Ekren visited Amer in Turkey, something had changed.

“She started talking about the Islamic caliphate and how we should help them,” Amer said. “And I was like, what? I was confused.”