In Syria, the search for the remains of Americans is a decade ago that was killed by ISIS

“It seems that ISIS considers this website to be an important burial and execution location,” said Soufan. “Perhaps you have chosen it because of its symbolic meaning, and you will probably reserve it for specific or high -quality or top -class victims.”

Dabiq is not completely safe today. According to officials from the new Syrian government, which the BASHAR al-Assad regime plunged at the end of last year, there are still ISIS sleeper cells in the region. They offer security for the operation that has previously expired without incidents. The new government, which is still under US sanctions, was born from an Islamic group that fought against ISIS.

This operation was only possible after Assad had fallen. While he was in power, Dabiq was an active fighting zone that made it too dangerous to carry out the slow, methodological excavation work.

Families of the hostages are aware that the company is underway.

“This mission is really one of the most important missions that everyone can do,” said Andre Khoury, a Vice President of the Soufan Group and a former FBI specialist agent.

“We do this for the families. We really want to ensure that the families have an appropriate closure that their loved ones are in peace next to them. There is no better mission in the world than this mission,” he said.

“If we were lucky and could do this on this trip, it would be fantastic. If not, it doesn't mean that we will stop. We will continue our mission. That was our promise and our promise to the families, and we will continue to do so until we can bring them home,” said Khoury.