What happened to Samantha Lewthwaite, the subject in the third episode of World's Most Wanted? As detailed in the docuseries, the "White Widow" has been linked to the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. World's Most Wanted on Netflix mostly focuses on Lewthwaite's documented activity between 2005 and 2013.
Eleven interviewees discuss their connection to Lewthwaite in World's Most Wanted. Directed by Hugo Van Offel, the "White Widow" episode covers the subject's upbringing in Northern Ireland, and how the sociopolitical conflict known as "The Troubles" affected her worldview. Lewthwaite later moved to Aylesbury, England and began sympathizing with the local Islamic community, which presumably affected her opinions on world affairs while trying to process her parents' divorce. Unlike other World's Most Wanted episodes, none of the subject's friends or family members speak on camera, leaving the audience to rely on commentaries from journalists and investigators. In 2002, Lewthwaite married Germaine Lindsay, who later killed 26 people after detonating a bomb on July 7, 2005 in London.
In World's Most Wanted, the director focuses on Lewthwaite's demeanor in the years after her husband's death, and the events that led to a 2011 raid at her Kenyan home in Mombasa. The subject had changed her name to Natalie Webb and ultimately managed to flee, yet authorities discovered a laptop computer with damning information, including a poem called "Ode to Osama." The last known sighting of Lewthwaite occurred in July 2012 when she participated in the bombing of a Mombasa bar. The final half of the World's Most Wanted episode explores the White Widow's background, and her connection to a September 2013 terrorist attack at a mall in Nairobi, Kenya. As for Lewthwaite's current whereabouts, there have been some close calls in recent years, according to Netflix. However, the World's Most Wanted episode ends without any significant case updates.
Lewthwaite's present location is unknown, though investigators featured in World's Most Wanted believe that she's hiding out near the Kenya-Somalia border, which is described as "Al-Shabaab territory" in the Netflix docuseries. Due to the White Widow's alleged location, a potential drone bombing would cause international legal problems. So, Lewthwaite has been able to evade capture by presumably operating from one central location over the past several years.
In 2014, a Russian news agency reported that Lewthwaite had been killed by a sniper in the eastern part of Ukraine. This would explain the White Widow's disappearance, it seems; however, the alleged hit was never confirmed and could be part of a political spin. Whatever the case, Lewthwaite's (possible) death was indeed acknowledged by major international outlets. In the present, authorities haven't eased up on their search for Lewthwaite, despite the Russian reports of her death. An April 2020 report notes that new facial recognition technology "sees through burkas," which could help authorities track down the Lewthwaite. For now, the White Widow remains one of the more elusive subjects from World's Most Wanted.