Here’s the thing you need to know about 17-year-old Natalie Raanan, according to her big brother:

“Natalie is not a political person,” Ben Raanan, artistic director of Denver’s disability-affirmative Phamaly Theatre Company, said on Friday. “I can’t even tell you her politics, because politics have never been important to her.”

You know what is? She’s obsessed with Kim Kardashian. Her makeup. Her cell phone. And her ridiculous, 6-inch fingernails.

“I don’t even know how she can open a door with those things,” said Ben, allowing himself the briefest moment of levity during a confusing, impossible week he is still struggling to comprehend. “She’s not a politician. She’s not part of the military. She’s just a normal kid with the brightest of futures ahead of her – and I am praying that she is still alive.”

The horror playing out far away in Israel could not be hitting any closer to home for Raanan since learning last Saturday that his half-sister and stepmother, Judith Tai Raanan, have been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.

Judith and Natalie, who live in Evanston, Ill., were in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz located less than a mile from the Israeli-Gaza border, when Hamas invaded and destroyed multiple towns – the start of a death toll that has since reached 1,300, including at least 27 Americans, according to CNN. It is believed that more than 150 Israeli and foreign hostages have been taken.

Natalie Raanan, who was born in the Chicagoland area, lived in Israel with her mother for 10 to 12 years before returning to the U.S. to live with her father, Uri Raanan. She graduated from a Chicago high school a few months ago and arrived in southern Israel on Oct. 2 to celebrate Judith’s mother’s 85th birthday. While the grandmother is safe, the Raanan family has not heard from Judith or Natalie in the six days since the attack.

There was confusion late today when an ABC affiliate in Chicago reported that an Israeli government official had called Uri Raanan and told him that his daughter and ex-wife are known to be still alive.

“But we have been given zero proof of life,” Ben Raanan said.

President Joe Biden, who spent “several hours” on the phone with Uri Raanan on Friday, has confirmed that at least 14 Americans are reported missing, but the White House has not yet said exactly how many of them are confirmed as kidnapped.

“We can confirm that there are unaccounted-for U.S. citizens, and we are working with our Israeli partners to determine their whereabouts,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Ben Raanan, who is from Skokie, Ill., was named Phamaly’s artistic leader in June 2021. The company, which creates performance opportunities for those with disabilities, recently staged “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. He is currently in Cincinnati participating in Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s Inclusive Arts Education Conference as a facilitator.

Natalie, he said, loves Ben’s stage shows, especially the sad ones.

“Oh, she’s a big crier,” he said. “She cries all the time at them.”

Just last week, Raanan announced that his company’s big 2024 summer musical will be “A Chorus Line,” and she was thrilled.

“The last time I talked to Natalie, I told her how wild ‘A Chorus Line’ is going to be at Phamaly, and she said, ‘Oh, you’ll have to fly me out for that.’ I can’t wait for her to come back and see it.”

In the meantime, he struggles to think about how Natalie and Judith might be holding up as political prisoners.

“I know she has a good head on her shoulders,” Ben Raanan said. “She hasn’t had the easiest of lives up to this point, and that has toughened her a little – but obviously not for anything like this. I just hope she’s being as smart as she can be, and that she knows we are not taking a moment without thinking of her.”

The Evanston community held a community prayer vigil for the women on Thursday. Friends from Colorado to Illinois and beyond have rallied in support of the extended family through various social channels.

Sarah Ruhl, one of America’s most esteemed playwrights of this generation, is from Wilmette, Ill. She posted on Instagram: “Praying for this family from my hometown. Searching for some words, some wisdom. Finding none. Praying for all of the innocents.”

Wire services contributed to this report.