By Wednesday, January 11, it was clear that Carroll was not going to be released quickly. That meant it was time to reevaluate. The news blackout had not triggered her release; neither had the carefully crafted statement. The Monitor did not even know whether Carroll was still alive. So now the paper faced a new crossroads. Should it keep the news about Carroll as quiet a possible? Or, on the contrary, should it broadcast her plight as widely and forcefully as it could?

Ingwerson heard divergent views. Many urged him to publicize Carroll’s plight aggressively, describing her in terms that would win public support and put pressure on the kidnappers. One journalist, a former captive herself in Iraq and a friend of Carroll’s, emailed the Monitor’s editors: “You need to start framing her public image now. Don’t wait.” The Guardian’s managing editor had told Ingwerson that they had “yelled as loud as they could” immediately after their correspondent was taken. The Guardian news staff had set up a dedicated website to present him the way they wanted him to be seen. They sought maximum attention to mobilize government officials—both Western and others—on his behalf.

At the same time, Ingwerson heard from others: “There’s no hurry on this because you don’t know who has her.” An NBC news executive praised Ingwerson for remaining low key, a tactic NBC had adopted when one of its news crews was abducted in Iraq in May 2004. The network had not reported their kidnapping until after the crew was released a few days later. The news executive attributed the release in part to NBC’s below-the-radar strategy, as well as to limiting the involvement of extraneous parties.

Ingwerson was torn. If he decided to go loud, that created other challenges. He had to look for voices that weren’t seen by the Arab public as Western sympathizers. In other words, “you’re trying to reach out to people who, on the surface, hate you,” says Bergenheim. The anonymity of the kidnappers added another layer of complexity to a potential publicity campaign. Ingwerson didn’t know whether they were Sunni or Shiite, Iraqi or other Arabs, Al-Qaeda or rogue groups.

The FBI agent assigned to the Monitor cautioned Team Jill that there were risks in approaching governments, groups or individuals in the Middle East to advocate for Carroll’s release or condemn her capture. Specifically, the Monitor might inadvertently request help from a party whom the kidnappers despised. That alone could provoke them to kill Carroll then and there.