The White House and the family of 26-year-old Kayla Jean Mueller have confirmed that the humanitarian aid worker has died. Mueller was the last known American hostage of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The 26-year-old Prescott resident and Northern Arizona University graduate was captured in Syria in 2013 while working with refugees of the Syrian civil war.
In a statement released Tuesday, the family said, “We are heartbroken to share that we’ve received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller has lost her life.” The statement goes on to say that she was a “compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice, and peace.”
Though it has been confirmed that Mueller has died, it is still unclear how and when she lost her life. Last Friday, ISIS claimed Mueller was killed in a Jordanian airstrike in Syria. But, U.S. and Jordanian officials have said they’ve seen no proof to back up those assertions.
Mueller was working near the Turkish-Syrian border, and was captured while leaving a hospital in Aleppo, Syria in August 2013. Last summer, ISIS demanded a nearly $7 million ransom for her release.
Mueller is a 2009 graduate of Northern Arizona University.
The three other American hostages known to have been held by ISIS — including two journalists and an aid worker — were executed in 2014.
