The parents of Kayla Mueller, the American aid worker abducted in 2013 by the Islamic State, issued a statement on Tuesday confirming her death, four days after the militant group claimed she had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike.
The family, which had publicly maintained hope that she was still alive, did not indicate how they knew of their daughter's death. The White House also confirmed the death in a separate statement but also did not provide further details.
"We are heartbroken to share that we've received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life," Kayla's parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, said in a statement released from their home in Prescott, Arizona. "We are so proud of the person Kayla was and the work that she did while she was here with us. She lived with purpose."
A family representative said the Muellers had received a message from their daughter's captors over the weekend containing "additional information which the intelligence community authenticated and deemed credible." The representative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, declined to give more details.
She appears to have driven in with a Syrian man, who has been described as her boyfriend and who had been hired as a contractor to repair an Internet connection at the Doctors Without Borders compound in the war-struck city of Aleppo.
The pair stayed overnight at the Doctors Without Borders compound, and were kidnapped the next day, Aug. 4, on their way to the Aleppo bus depot for their return journey to Turkey, according to a statement issued by the volunteer group. Mueller's companion was released after several months and has declined to comment.
"Everyone, if you are receiving this letter it means I am still detained but my cellmates (starting from 11/2/2014) have been released," she wrote in the undated letter. "Please know that I am in a safe location, completely unharmed healthy (put on weight in fact); I have been treated w/utmost respect kindness."
© 2015 New York Times News Service
White House Slams Violence Against West Bank Palestinian Settlers By Israel US Approves Sale Of 600 Patriot Missiles To Germany US Delegation Led By Top Diplomat Richard Verma To Visit India Tomorrow Who Is Jasveen Sangha, "Ketamine Queen" Charged With Matthew Perry's Death "Don't Expect Anything From Me": Kolkata Hospital's New Principal Loses Cool Nurse Raped, Killed On Way Home, Body Found 9 Days Later In UP CSAB 2024 Supernumerary Round Counselling Registration Begins Today Telangana Women's Commission Orders Probe Into KTR's Remarks What Is The Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid's Origin? Scientists Have An Answer Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.