Having failed to reach a deal to release American journalist James Foley when he was alive, ISIS militants have now offered to sell his remains to his parents or the U.S. government for $1 million, according to a report published late Wednesday.

BuzzFeed's Mike Giglio and Munzer al-Awad report their sources, working as middlemen with ties to the Islamic State, said the organization has offered to provide a DNA sample once it has the cash. Foley's body would then be transported to Turkey.



Reports Buzzfeed:

If true, the attempted sale would highlight the ruthlessness behind the hostage-taking enterprise that has provided ISIS with deep reservoirs of funds and publicity — as well as the group’s cold calculation as it works to raise more cash.

Foley earned a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 2008. He was in Syria in 2012 when he was captured by militants. ISIS said they killed him in August because of U.S. intervention in the conflict in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS at one point held 23 hostages from 12 countries. Fifteen Europeans were freed after their governments paid ransoms, New York Times records showed last month, but British and American citizens remained under ISIS control.

Foley was the first to be publicly beheaded. In the months since, the organization has released videos showing the deaths of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker Alan Henning, and U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig. Another American, a 26-year-old female aid worker, and British journalist John Cantlie were still being held hostage as of Thursday.

The reporters said one source pushed BuzzFeed to hold the report, fearing ISIS would call off the deal if word of it leaked.

"The trade in Western hostages has created a shadowy marketplace in which middlemen like these seek to negotiate deals in order to receive commission," the BuzzFeed report said.

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