Three days after he was killed , CNN found a journal belonging to late U.S . Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens . The journal was found on the floor of the largely unsecured consulate compound where he was fatally wounded . CNN notified Stevens ' family about the journal within hours after it was discovered and at the family 's request provided it to them via a third party . The journal consists of just seven pages of handwriting in a hard-bound book . For CNN , the ambassador 's writings served as tips about the situation in Libya , and in Benghazi in particular . CNN took the newsworthy tips and corroborated them with other sources . A source familiar with Stevens ' thinking told CNN earlier this week that , in the months leading up to his death , the late ambassador worried about what he called the security threats in Benghazi and a rise in Islamic extremism . Stevens died on September 11 , along with three other Americans , when the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi came under attack amid a large protest about a U.S.-made film that mocked the Muslim Prophet Mohammed . The California-born Stevens joined the Peace Corps and attended law school before joining the Foreign Service , the career diplomatic corps , in 1991 , according to his State Department biography . He spent most of his career in the Middle East and North Africa , including postings to Israel , Egypt , Syria and Saudi Arabia , in addition to serving as the deputy chief of the U.S. mission to Libya from 2007 to 2009 , during the rule of Moammar Gadhafi , according to the State Department . In May , one year after arriving aboard a cargo ship to work with those involved in the upstart rebellion , Stevens was appointed U.S. ambassador to Libya .
U.S . Ambassador to Libya John Stevens was killed in a September 11 bombing in Benghazi . Police found his journal on a largely unsecured consulate property . Stevens ' family was notified in hours , and the journal was given to them via a third party .