Foley was a freelance journalist, Jim is the oldest of five children. He has reported independently and objectively from the Middle East for the past five years. Prior to his work as a journalist, Jim helped empower disadvantaged individuals as a teacher and mentor assisting them in improving their lives.

He was on assignment in Syria for GlobalPost, a Boston-based news organisation, when he was kidnapped by a group of armed men near the Syrian town of Taftanaz in November, 2012.

His kidnapping was not the first time he had been detained while reporting on an international crisis.In 2011, he was taken while covering the uprising against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi's forces released him after six weeks in captivity.Foley later returned to Libya to cover Gaddafi's fall and eventual death.

A propaganda video circulated on Tuesday (19th August 2014) showed a masked Isis fighter beheading a kneeling man dressed in an orange jumpsuit who is purported to be James Wright Foley, a photojournalist who went missing in Syria in 2012.

The masked executioner spoke in English, with what sounded like a British accent, and said the slaying came in response to the air strikes ordered by President Barack Obama against Isis 12 days ago.