Family ‘heartbroken’ after receiving confirmation that 26-year-old aid worker held hostage since August 2013 has been killed

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The family of Kayla Mueller, the 26-year-old aid worker held hostage by Isis since August 2013, has confirmed in a statement that she has been killed.

“We are heartbroken to share that we’ve received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life,” her parents and brother said on Tuesday.

Supporters of Islamic State had claimed on Friday that she was killed in a Jordanian air strike intended to avenge the burning to death of a captured Jordanian pilot. US officials could not determine her cause of death.



The National Security Council spokeswoman, Bernadette Meehan, said that over the weekend, the family received a private message from Mueller’s captors containing “additional information”.

“Once this information was authenticated by the intelligence community, they concluded that Kayla was deceased,” Meehan said.

Kayla Mueller letter: 'I have learned that even in prison, one can be free' Read more

Barack Obama sent his “deepest condolences” to the Mueller family, and vowed to bring those responsible for Kayla’s death to justice.

“Kayla represents what is best about America, and expressed her deep pride in the freedoms that we Americans enjoy, and that so many others strive for around the world,” he said in a statement released by the White House. “In how she lived her life, she epitomized all that is good in our world.”



Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, and her brother Eric, said in their statement: “Our hearts are breaking for our only daughter, but we will continue on in peace, dignity, and love for her.”

The family also released a note written by Mueller during her 18-month captivity.

“I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see that there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it,” it says.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The family has released a letter written by Mueller during her 18-month captivity. Photograph: Guardian

Several hours after the confirmation of Mueller’s death, friends and family paid tribute to the aid worker by sharing memories and personal stories in the Prescott Town Square.

Kathleen Day, the Head of United Christian Ministry at Northern Arizona University where Mueller had been a student, recounted how family and friends were told that while in captivity, she tried to teach her guards crafts, including origami. “She did ordinary things in extraordinary measure,” Day said.

“Kayla has done more at her age than many people can imagine doing in their lifetime,” said Lori Lyon, one of Kayla’s maternal aunts who read a statement on behalf of Mueller’s extended family. “At a young age, she knew her calling.”

“Kayla touched the heart of the world. The world grieves with us. The world mourns with us,” Lyon said.

In a statement distributed widely by Isis supporters on Friday, the group had claimed that Mueller was killed when “missiles” targeted the building she was being held in in Raqqa, Syria. The statement included pictures of the badly shelled building but no photographic evidence of her death was shown.



Mueller is the fourth American to die in Isis captivity. Journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were beheaded by the group in August and September 2014. Aid worker Peter Kassig was killed by the group in November 2014.

Mueller was seized by Isis fighters in August 2013, as she left a hospital run by the Spanish branch of Médecins Sans Frontières in Aleppo.

In her letter, which her family said was written in the spring of 2014, Mueller says she had been “treated with the utmost respect + kindness”, adding that she was being kept in a safe location, “completely unharmed + healthy”.



The letter was brought to Mueller’s family at her request by her cell mates, who she says had been released “starting from 11/2/2014”.

In the letter, Mueller asks that her parents not take on the “burden” of negotiating for her release.

“I DO NOT want the negotiations for my release to be your duty, if there is any other option take it, even if it takes more time. This should never have become your burden. I have asked these women to support you; please seek their advice.”

Of her family, she states that the only suffering she has endured throughout her time in captivity, is “knowing how much suffering I have put you all through forgive me as I do not deserve forgiveness”.

Mueller, originally from Prescott, Arizona, had traveled to the Turkish-Syrian border in December 2012 to work with groups providing support to Syrian refugees, her family said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kayla Mueller expresses solidarity with people of Syria in 2011 YouTube clip

In a 2013 profile in Mueller’s hometown paper the Prescott Daily Courrier which highlighted her humanitarian work abroad, Mueller said she felt drawn to help after learning more about the situation in war-torn Syria.

When asked what kept her going in her mission, Mueller said “I find God in the suffering eyes reflected in mine, if this is how you are revealed to me, this is how I will forever seek you.”

Mueller said that during her captivity, she drew comfort from her deep Christian faith, writing: “I remember mom always telling me that all in all in the end the only one you really have is God. I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator b/c literally there was no else ... + by God + by your prayers I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall.”

She had spent the previous four years working for various aid groups in northern India, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“We are so proud of the person Kayla was and the work that she did while she was here with us,” her family said. “She lived with purpose, and we will work every day to honor her legacy.”

“We remain heartbroken, also, for the families of the other captives who did not make it home safely and who remain in our thoughts and prayers. We pray for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria.”

Secretary of state John Kerry said the US was “unshaken” in its resolve to defeat the Islamic State, a group he called an “ugly insult to the civilized world.”

Arizona senator John McCain, who represents Mueller’s home state, said, “The thoughts and prayers of the people of Arizona, America, and the civilized world are with the Mueller family at this terrible hour.”

In his statement, Obama said: “Isil is a hateful and abhorrent terrorist group whose actions stand in stark contrast the spirit of people like Kayla.”



He said: “No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death.”