A team of military and law enforcement forensic experts has been formed to explore a site near Raqqa Syria where remains of US hostages may be located, a US official tells CNN. The team is working to see what remains may be there, how they can be removed and shipped to a laboratory for potential identification.
It is not clear if the remains would be shipped directly back to the United States. The exact location of the team and the work they are doing is not being disclosed by the Pentagon.
Information about the possible location of the remains of US hostages killed by ISIS in Syria has been provided in recent days by two ISIS fighters captured in eastern Syria in early January, according to multiple US officials.
The two men have given Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces details about potential burial locations of several US and Western hostages killed by Mohammed Emwazi, the British ISIS operative known as Jihadi John responsible for the beheading of several American hostages, the officials said.
The ISIS fighters have been identified by US intelligence as Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, known associates of Jihadi John.
The New York Times was the first to report the capture of the two men.