525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade), and are the parents of Kate Kane and Beth Kane. The Kanes are Jewish and Jacob Kane inherited vast wealth along with his other siblings. Bette Kane (the superheroine known as Flamebird, and later Hawkfire) is his niece and Bruce Wayne is his nephew, since Martha Wayne was Jacob's sister. Jacob Kane is promoted to colonel and assigned to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. When the twins turned 12 years old, their mother took them to a restaurant for a birthday dessert, despite Jacob being away due to a security crisis. A terrorist group (later revealed to be the organization known as the "Many Arms of Death") kidnapped the family during their trip, and Col. Kane led a rescue mission to save them. During the raid, Gabrielle was murdered by the terrorists. The terrorists kidnapped another young girl and murdered her too. Kate, seeing the body of a young girl under a blanket, is left with the impression her sister died. Col. Kane, however, knew that the terrorists had Beth. Despite looking for years, Col. Kane never found Beth. He never told Kate that Beth might still be alive. Col. Kane remarries years later to Hamilton Rifle Company heiress Catherine Hamilton, who becomes Kate's stepmother. Jacob's emotional steadiness proved to be a major source of stability for Kate in the aftermath of the tragedy, and she sought to emulate that for herself and follow him into Army service, which Jacob supported. Thanks to his higher rank, Jacob was able to be more present in Kate's life during this time. He taught Kate how to box when she was a teenager, accompanied her to R-Day at West Point when she was an incoming freshman, and is implied to have given Kate ringside coaching during an academy championship boxing match that helped her win the fight. Kate's resignation from the academy due to DADT allegations took Jacob by surprise, but he immediately accepted her when she came out to him. After Kate became a vigilante, Jacob aided her campaign against crime by organizing her training, designing her Batwoman suit and gear, developing her operational headquarters, and maintaining radio contact with her during patrols to provide information and advice. The Alice persona kidnaps Col. Kane, who immediately recognizes as his now-grown daughter Beth, and uses him to gain access to a military base near Gotham City. She seizes chemical