Our worst fears, especially those of his family, appear to have been confirmed: ISIS has released a video showing the beheading of freelance journalist Steven Joel Sotloff.
This news is being reported by the New York Times and a number of international news outlets.
My most sincere condolences to his family and in particular to his mother who has suffered so much herself in the past two weeks and who so valiantly appealed to her son's captors.
Other links to this developing story:
CNN
WaPo
The White House has not of course had time to authenticate the video. Fortunately, I do not believe the original video is circulating on YouTube.