By Cassandra Vinograd | NBC News
American ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller is dead, the aid worker’s family said Tuesday. The announcement came four days after ISIS claimed the 26-year-old Arizona native had been killed by a coalition airstrike in Syria.
“We are heartbroken to share that we’ve received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life,” Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha, and brother Eric, said in a statement. “Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice, and peace.”
“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, and we will work every day to honor her legacy.”
The statement from Mueller’s family — which was accompanied by a copy of a letter the aid worker sent to her loved ones from captivity — did not elaborate on how it had learned of her death or the circumstances behind it.
