In 1999 in Paris, Daniel Pearl met and married French journalist, Mariane van Neyenhoff, a former reporter and columnist for Glamour. Their son, Daniel Pearl was born in Paris on May 28, 2002, approximately four months after Pearl’s abduction and death.
Mariane started her career in journalism as a reporter for International Glamour magazine. In addition, she had a column in the magazine, known as the Global Diary Column. She explored aspects of globalization as seen through fashion and its business elements.
Mariane Pearl’s memoir, A Mighty Heart, deals with the events surrounding her husband’s kidnapping and murder by Pakistani militants in 2002. Both United States and Pakistani militants in 2002. Both United States and Pakistani agencies joined to try to capture his killers and bring them to justice.
In July 2002, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British national of Pakistani origin, was sentenced in Pakistan to death by hanging for Pearl’s abduction and murder. His sentence was commuted to life in Jail. Three other men were convicted of their roles in the journalist’s murder.