Jamal Bana Death Photos Online: How Parents Knew He Had Died

In what can only be described as a heartbreaking tale of loss and grief, the parents of Minneapolis young man Jamal Bana first learned of his death when a photo of him was posted on a Somalia website - with a gunshot wound through his skull.

Abayte Ahmed and her husband, originally from Somalia, were at home in the United States when a family friend called them and told them to go on the internet and there they saw the photos of their young son.

One of the photos of Jamal (it is blacked out, but is still distressing so please excercise caution).

Jamal had been missing from his Minneapolis home for months, when he called his parents and told them he was in Somalia. The first time they heard him speak in months, he said these words, and then quickly hung up.

The FBI commented on Bana's death and said that they believed it was part of a recruiting effort in the United States by a Somalia terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, which has ties to al Qaeda. Jamal is not the only Minneapolis teen to go missing in recent months. At least three have ended up dead.

Jamal was the eldest of seven children and was studying engineering at local colleges.

After the first phone call telling his parents where he was, Jamal would sometimes text or call, but it was often scarce.

His parents believe their son was brainwashed to fight for what is left of the Somalia government and Al-Shabaab. All the young men that have gone missing had one thing in common - they all attended youth programs at the Abubakar as-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis.

Federal authorities have made two arrests in the case recently, charging Salah Osman Ahmed and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse with "providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure people overseas."