Religious fervor usually drives Western Muslims to join extremist groups - but one man just wanted to escape the financial pressures in his life.
Abdifatah Ahmed, 34, was a fuel technician at a Minneapolis airport until several months ago, according to the Associated Press - before he vanished to join Daesh in Syria.
Just before disappearing, Ahmed was reportedly paying three separate women - two ex-wives and a third unnamed woman - more than $700 per month for six children he fathered, according to the daily, and he left to escape the bills.
Ahmed was apparently not a religious Muslim before joining the militants, and regularly went clubbing and drank alcohol despite the religion's drinking ban.
He posted several photos of himself on social media with guns and a Quran after leaving the US, with the last dated in July.
A family member received a photo of him with a gunshot wound to the head; the US State Department is attempting to determine Ahmed's death, estimated to have been in August 2014.
An Obama administration official in October stated that the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) has placed the official estimate at around 15,000 foreign nationals from 80 countries taking part in the Syrian Civil War total, with roughly 2,000 Europeans and over 100 Americans.
[This story has been edited from the source material.]
