--- title: Jim Foley's Parents on Jihadi John description: Statement from John and Diane Foley canonical: https://time.com/4111671/jim-foley-parents-jihadi-john/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-13T16:39:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:35:50.936Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Jim Foley's Parents: Jihadi John's Death Will Not Bring Our Son Back og:description: 'Our focus is on Jim's life' og:url: https://time.com/4111671/jim-foley-parents-jihadi-john/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd40e944d869a23ce/698870e6cf40a82fddc40a3e/foley.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Diane and John Foley, parents of journalilst James Foley, sit for a portrait at their home during an interview in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 24, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jim Foley's Parents: Jihadi John's Death Will Not Bring Our Son Back twitter:description: 'Our focus is on Jim's life' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd40e944d869a23ce/698870e6cf40a82fddc40a3e/foley.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jim Foley's Parents: Jihadi John's Death Will Not Bring Our Son Back by [John and Diane Foley](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## John and Diane Foley Nov 13, 2015 4:39 PM UTC  Diane and John Foley, parents of journalilst James Foley, sit for a portrait at their home during an interview in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 24, 2014. Diane and John Foley, parents of journalilst James Foley, sit for a portrait at their home during an interview in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 24, 2014.Dominick Reuter—AFP/Getty Images by [John and Diane Foley](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## John and Diane Foley Nov 13, 2015 4:39 PM UTC _A U.S. drone strike is believed to have_ [_targeted_](http://time.com/4111301/us-airstrike-targets-jihadi-john-from-isis-slaying-videos/?xid=homepage) _“Jihadi John,” the British man who appeared in several videos showing the beheadings of Western hostages, including James Foley. His parents, John and Diane Foley, released the following statement on Friday._ It is a very small solace to learn that Jihadi John may have been killed by the U.S. government. His death does not bring Jim back. If only so much effort had been given to finding and rescuing Jim and the hostages who were subsequently murdered by ISIS, they might be alive today. Our focus is on Jim’s life and all the good that he did in the world. We remain humble and proud of his unwavering commitment to give voice to the voiceless as a journalist, a teacher and a friend. As we continue to honor Jim’s life, we are grateful to the thousands of people who supported Jim throughout his captivity and who continue to support his legacy today through [The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation](http://www.jamesfoleyfoundation.org/). The Foundation is committed to defending the rights of every American citizen by advocating for the safe release of Americans kidnapped abroad, advancing safety measures for freelance journalists in conflict zones, and providing underprivileged youth with access to education. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4111671/jim-foley-parents-jihadi-john/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4111671/jim-foley-parents-jihadi-john/"},"headline":"Jim Foley's Parents: Jihadi John's Death Will Not Bring Our Son Back","datePublished":"2015-11-13T16:39:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:35:50.936Z","description":"'If only so much effort had been given to finding and rescuing Jim and the hostages who were subsequently murdered by ISIS, they might be alive today'","url":"https://time.com/4111671/jim-foley-parents-jihadi-john/","keywords":["World","knowrightnow"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd40e944d869a23ce/698870e6cf40a82fddc40a3e/foley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John and Diane Foley"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd40e944d869a23ce/698870e6cf40a82fddc40a3e/foley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Diane and John Foley, parents of journalilst James Foley, sit for a portrait at their home during an interview in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 24, 2014.","caption":"Diane and John Foley, parents of journalilst James Foley, sit for a portrait at their home during an interview in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 24, 2014.","creditText":"Dominick Reuter—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4111671/jim-foley-parents-jihadi-john/","name":"Jim Foley's Parents: Jihadi John's Death Will Not Bring Our Son Back"}}]}] ```