- Law enforcement have become increasingly concerned for the whereabouts of 23-year-old Boston student Heda Umarova
- Umarova traveled to her native Chechnya in July and did not return
- Has begun posting pictures of female jihaid soldiers online and herself with Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
- Has known Tsarnaev for more than a decade
- Posted her support to pages that believe the 20-year-old terror suspect is innocent
- Umarova has spoken in the past that she thinks the Boston marathon bombings were carried out by the United States government
- Her two brothers have been questioned in the past about their friendship with Tsarnaev
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US counter-terrorism officials are involved in a frantic search for a friend of the Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after she failed to return from Chechnya last year and has now posted 'alarming' pictures online of women in head-scarfs dressed as jihadi soldiers.
Terrorist experts have become concerned that Heda Umarova, 23, may have become radicalized to commit Islamist violence and poses a threat to Americans at home and abroad because her US passport allows her relatively easy foreign travel.
The pretty Chelsea, Massachusetts student first came to the attention of authorities when she began to spout the false-flag attack conspiracy theories of radio host Alex Jones in the aftermath of her friend Dzhokhar's dramatic capture in April.
Worry: Heda Umarova (left) is pictured here with her friend and suspected Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a social media posting uploaded to Umarova's Russian social network page known as VK
Jones, who broadcasts 17-hours a week online, claims that the US government planned and perpetrated the April 15 marathon attacks which killed three and injured more than 260 in Boston.
Part of the small minority who are sympathetic to the younger Tsarnaev, Umarova has been quoted by Bloomberg News as saying, 'A lot of it is ‘Oh my god, he is crazy,’ but a lot of stuff he says make sense.
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Her two younger brothers, Adam, 20 and Junes, 18, are already under suspicion by authorities because of their strong online backing and friendship with Dzhokhar that included posting pictures of themselves lighting fireworks with him two months before the attacks.
Frightening: These are the images of women jihadists in Chechnya posted to the Russian VK social networking site of Heda Umarova that have greatly concerned the FBI and counter-terrorism officials
Friends and brothers: Adam Umarov, 20, (left) is friends with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as is his brother Junes, 18, (right) - who posted the Boston bombing suspect messages of support in the aftermath of the terror atrocity in April
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is being held at Massachusetts federal prison Fort Devens and recently the Department of Justice has announced prosecutors will seek the death penalty for his part in the terror atrocity which killed three people and injured more than 260 people
Heda Umarova is known to have traveled with her family to her native Chechnya in July, but failed to return home with her parents to Massachusetts in August.
Her parents, Raisa and Hamzat told US authorities that she remained behind to marry after meeting a man in Chechnya during Ramadan.
Friends: This image shared online by Junes Umarov shows him and Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev playing with fireworks in Boston before the April 2013 terror attacks
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev became highly radicalized in the lead up to the April Boston attacks, espousing independence for Dagestan from Russia - which borders Chechnya and is a predominantly Muslim nation.
'No one is calling Heda a terrorist but her travel has certainly garnered some attention. People are concerned that a 23-year-old is in Chechnya, a country that she fled from... and now she is deciding to stay on her own,' a law enforcement source involved in the Boston Marathon investigation told ABC News.
They also told ABC that they had become worried because prior to the marriage, the 23-year-old had no 'obvious means' of financial support.
'We were already concerned about the social media exchanged with her brothers, who remain on the radar, especially the younger brother Junes, who was Dzhokhar's best friend,' the source added.
However, recent developments on Heda's Russian social media site VK.Com have begun to worry FBI officials.
She has been posting pictures of Chechen jihadis with guns and a photo-shopped image of a US passport in a carry-on bag featuring the black flag that signifies joining jihad.
Social media support: This post from Junes Umarov is one of many that alerted authorities to his continued support for his friend who is accused of carrying out the terror attack on the Boston marathon in April
Father: Hamzat Umarov has categorically denied that any of his children are involved in Islamic extremism and dismissed pictures his daughter Heda is believed to have posted online that show jihadi soldiers brandishing weapons
Heda and her brothers did not respond to ABC News when they attempted to contact them.
Her father, Hamzat Umarov was dismissive of any suggestions that just because photographs have been posted online, it means his daughter has been radicalized.
'What does it mean, pictures? Pictures can be anywhere. It doesn't mean anything, the pictures. We don't want to talk about it. We talk with the FBI, everybody. The FBI came, CIA, everybody's come,' he said to ABC News.
Indeed, in the aftermath of his daughter uploading the photographs of jihadists, Hamzat Umarov's Chelsea, Massachusetts home was raided by armed agents - just as the apartment was in April last year as authorities searched Boston for Dzhokhar.
Rebel fighter fighters in the Caucasus: Heda Umarova is believed to have uploaded pictures of female jihadi's onto her Russian social networking site VK
Authorities have made it very clear to the family that Heda Umarova has not been indicted for any offences.
The agents who conducted the raid questioned the Umarov family as to why they returned to Chechnya when they fled ten years ago.
'They had a hard time getting out of the country and an even harder time coming back when she was not with them,' said a law enforcement official familiar with the Umarov family.
The strong line of questioning led to Heda's sister, Hawa Umarova, 26, complaining to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force officials that her family was made to feel like 'terrorists'.
Authorities were first led to the Umarov family after they discovered Twitter messages that had been exchanged between Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Junes Umarov the day before the twin blasts along the finishing line of the marathon.
Suspects: Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev walk around the finishing line of the Boston marathon on April 15
In addition to the social media exchanges between the Tsarnaev and his best friend Junes, authorities are also examining the Russian social network page VK that has the name Heda Umarova and links to a fan page for Dzhokhar.
The page which is sympathetic to the 20-year-old bomber insists he is innocent and features several pictures of the Umarov siblings with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, including one with Heda, her brother Adam, and 'Johar' as a boy, which is the Russian spelling of the accused terrorist's nickname.
Upset: MCLA student Hawa Umarova made a complaint to authorities after her family was questioned about their links to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan
However, authorities do admit that the pictures of Chechen women dressed as jihadi fighters in Chechnya are probably ten years old.
In one photo, a woman in a black headscarf is toting an AK-47 rifle.
ABC News discovered that the images had all been removed days after they spoke to the Umarov family.
The Heda Umarova VK page also links to the Kavkaz Center, which is heavily associated with Doku Umarov, the jihadi leader of the Caucusus Emirate who threatened to strike the Sochi Olympics last July.
There is no relation between the Umarov family in question and the terror leader.
When interviewing their mother Raisa last week, ABC News described her becoming emotional when asked why her daughter had returned to Chechnya, especially after she fled the war-torn nation with her husband ten years ago.
'She is getting married. She doesn't speak good Russian. They [the Umarov children] come to this country as babies. This is my home now. I love this country. I love my children being here,' the mother said through tears to ABC News.
Raisa Umarova made it clear that she loves the United States and is a proud citizen.
According to law enforcement officers, the Umarovs and the Tsarnaevs became friendly and father, Hamzat, acknowledged that the families 'knew each other'.
Terror: Runners continue to run towards the finish line of the Boston Marathon as an explosion erupts near the finish line of the race
However, Raisa Umarova was unequivocal in her opinion of the Tsarnaev family when she told ABC News, 'I don't like them. I like my country.'
Not one member of the Umarov family has been charged with a crime or named as a suspect in connection with the April 15 attack on the Boston Marathon.
All five of the Umarov children attended Chelsea High School and Principal Joseph Mullaney said that they were all 'bright students'.
Junes and Adam were enrolled in Advanced Placement classes, and like their older sister Hawa, could speak several languages.
Hawa graduated from Mass College of Liberal Arts in June and Junes and Adam are roommates and students at MCLA now.
Tragic day: Two explosions went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 killing three and injuring more than 260 people
Chelsea High School librarian Thelma Dakubu said the entire Umarov family were proud of their Chechen heritage.
'They were fond of saying, 'We're not Russian. We're Chechen,' Dakubu told ABC News. 'Heda was the quiet one.'
However, in his 2013 high school yearbook, Junes Umarov wrote, 'I'm a stress free kind of guy' -- which is the identical quote Dzhokhar Tsarnaev tweeted two days after the bombings as law enforcement staggered to find them.
Rasia and Hamzat confirmed separately that their daughter is married but would not say when, where or where.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is being held at Massachusetts federal prison Fort Devens and recently the Department of Justice has announced prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole ruled last month that the trial is slated to begin in November.
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