Degauque subsequently moved out of the house and married an older Turkish national in what was presumed to be a marriage of convenience to help him obtain legal residence in Belgium.
Her family did not disapprove of the conversion initially and her mother told neighbors she was pleased because her daughter's new faith helped her quit drinking and taking drugs.
Her religiosity raised concerns several years later when Degauque met Issam Goris, the son of a Belgian man and Moroccan woman and a known radical Islamist.
She and Goris moved into a small apartment not far away from his mother in an ethnic neighbourhood[clarification needed] near Brussels' Midi train station.
Her relations with her parents became increasingly strained as she demanded they follow Islamic customs when she visited, forbidding her father to drink[clarification needed] and insisting on the separation of the sexes during meals.
[7][2] Belgian police later revealed that Goris was involved with an Islamist group recruiting European Muslims to fight in Iraq.
On 9 November 2005 Degauque detonated an explosive located in her vehicle in an attack on an American Ground assault team heading south on MSR Tampa led by Command Sergeant Major David Wood of the 3rd Coscom out of Wiesbaden Germany.
[8] Earlier that day, Goris, also wearing an explosives vest, was shot and killed by American soldiers as he tried to carry out an attack in another location.
Fearing members of the cell would cease operations and go under the radar, Belgian and French authorities promptly arrested 15 people in a number of cities for allegedly grooming and recruiting suicide bombers.