 On 28 July 2017, the Iraqi Al-Sura News Agency alleged that Cantlie had been killed, after the Agency conducted interviews with three captured IS militants.In October 2017, a French ISIS fighter told French magazine "Paris Match" that he had seen Cantlie "seven or eight months ago" in Raqqa.In January 2019, an official of the Syrian Democratic Forces stated Cantlie may still be alive inside Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria.