Kayla Mueller, described by her family and friends as
someone deeply committed who refused to avert her eyes from the suffering of
others has been pronounced dead. Mueller graduated college in 2009 and moved to
India, and soon after to Israel. On August 4th, 2013 she disappeared
in a northern Syrian city, Aleppo; arriving just a day earlier with a Syrian
man described as her boyfriend. Syria was then a no-go zone for many
international aid workers and on her drive back to the bus station her car was
ambushed, and she and her Syrian companion were abducted. Although he was later
set free, he refuses to speak of what happened. While many of the male hostages
were tortured, the females were treated relatively well.
The Islamic State had held Kayla captive since August of
2013, but they contacted her family privately with proof of her death. They
claimed that Kayla was killed in the rubble of a flattened building, but the
photographs provided remain unclear as to whether or not her injuries were
consistent. The ISIS stated that the building Mueller died in had been
demolished by Jordanian airstrikes; a claim that both the White House and
Jordan’s government said was unsubstantiated. An American official stated, “We
have no definite evidence of how, or when, she died”.
I must be honest; I’ve never been much of a newsperson. I
just recently started watching local news, so now that I’m expanding my
horizons and learning of global news as well its terrifying! My heart aches for
Kayla Mueller and her family, she seemed to be such a kind hearted person. From
all the statements of people from college peers to family, it looks like she
dedicated her life to improving the lives of others and to see her lose her
life this way is heart wrenching. It’s yet another instance of civilians being
punished for being a citizen of a certain country, and just in this instance,
it happened to be a fellow American. Such a shame.
Brittany Schrum
02/12/2015
6:47PM
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