The CBS news desk in New York awoke Ingwerson, asking him to confirm a report that Monitor stringer Carroll had been kidnapped. Ingwerson could not. After hanging up the phone, he called David Clark Scott , his foreign editor, who was about to dial his boss with the news. Monitor Middle East correspondent Scott Peterson had just called Foreign Editor Scott from Cairo to tell him about Carroll’s kidnapping.

Watch Peterson talk about finding out

As far as Peterson could determine, on Saturday morning local time, Carroll had been abducted from her car on a street in western Baghdad while on assignment for the Monitor . As usual, Carroll wore a hijab , a woman’s head covering, and an abaya , a full-length black overgarment, out of respect for Iraqi customs and to “pass” as an Iraqi woman. On the ride back to her office, after the sudden cancellation of an interview with a Sunni politician, a large truck pulled out and blocked the road. Men jumped out, one pointing a gun at the Monitor’s longtime driver. The gunmen killed Carroll’s interpreter and commandeered the car. Her driver was left behind, and saw Carroll through the car window. She was still alive.


Jill Carroll
© Christian Science Monitor

Ingwerson listened as his foreign editor relayed these details on the other end of the line. When Scott finished, they agreed to meet at the Monitor’s newsroom in Boston immediately. The only other person to contact at that point was then-Editor Richard Bergenheim , but he was on vacation—his first since assuming the position nine months before—in Oaxaca, Mexico, outside cellphone range. Ingwerson left a message at his hotel.

Driving to the Monitor’s newsroom in downtown Boston, Ingwerson considered the situation. The Monitor’s first step should be to verify the report. If true, what should they do next? Were the kidnappers part of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network or thugs hoping to cash in quickly? Why Carroll? What might be the leverage points with the kidnappers? Who could help free her? How much public scrutiny would the newspaper face? How much time did they have? As managing editor since 1999, most of his day-to-day decisions had not involved life and death matters. By the time he arrived at the Monitor’s newsroom before dawn, Ingwerson had more questions than answers.