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“I never had a problem with the faith, never dreaming in a million years that this was going to be the result of it,” she said.

“If that’s what you’re into and you’re not harming anybody, fine. There wasn’t anything concerning with his behaviour.”

Maguire’s family believes his road to Islam began when he became friends with Muslim co-workers at an Ottawa Walmart, but it wasn’t until he started at the University of Ottawa that his interest in the religion became serious.

Ms. Earl’s husband, Bill Langenberg, said he remembers the night of Jan. 1, 2012, when Maguire was about to go to bed as the late news came on television, but returned to the living room. There was a story on a conflict in the Middle East.

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Maguire sat down beside his stepfather and said, “My brothers are being mistreated,” Mr. Langenberg recalled.

“I didn’t think that was normal,” Mr. Langenberg said.

Once Maguire was in Syria, he stayed in touch with his family. Mr. Langenberg had asked that he email once a month so they knew he was safe. Eventually, Maguire’s stepfather got Skype so they could save on long-distance phone bills.

In one Skype conversation, Maguire told his mother he was marrying a 19-year-old Muslim woman and he wanted her to come to the wedding. Since it was in Syria and her passport had expired, Ms. Earl told her son she couldn’t be there. Maguire said he could get her into Syria the same way he did — by paying off guards.

The ISIS propaganda video that has surfaced of Maguire calling for attacks in Canada starkly contrasts with the son Ms. Earl remembers.

She spread old photos of him on her kitchen table, pointing to snapshots of a happy child who loved to race dirt bikes, play hockey and even took up figure skating because he was told it would help his game.

“That does not look like a terrorist,” Ms. Earl says.

“How does this beautiful kid end up on the dark side? It’s beyond.”

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