Reporter who was kidnapped in Baghdad is known for pursuing gutsy, low-budget assignments

American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson often works without formal assignments from editors and on a shoestring budget, taking shared taxis to lawless corners of Iraq where militia rule outweighs government control.

Kittleson, 49, has lived abroad for years, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East. On Tuesday, she vanished after being forced into a car by two men at a busy Baghdad intersection, surveillance camera footage showed.