Terri Crippes, left, and Lori Lyon, aunts of Kayla Mueller, speak at a press conference, Tuesday
The small Arizona town where Kayla Jean Mueller grew up gathered in grief Tuesday (yesterday, macau time) upon learning that the 26-year-old aid worker who traveled the world on a quest to help others had died while in the hands of Islamic State militants.
A memorial of flowers and handwritten notes took shape on the courthouse plaza in Prescott near a sign calling on people to pray for her.
In Washington, President Barack Obama pledged to bring Mueller’s captors to justice “no matter how long it takes.”
Muller’s 18-month captivity had largely been kept secret in an effort to save her. The Islamic State group claimed Friday that she had died in a recent Jordanian airstrike targeting the militants.
On Tuesday, her parents and U.S. officials confirmed her death. The Pentagon said U.S. officials don’t know how or when she died but are certain it was not in the Jordanian airstrike.
From Jordan, government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani offered his country’s condolences.
The White House said Obama had spoken with Mueller’s parents and offered his prayers. The president said Mueller “epitomized all that is good in our world.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain hailed Mueller’s humanitarian work in a speech from the Senate floor.
“After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in 2009, Kayla committed her life to helping people in need around the world — first in India, then Israel and the Palestinian territories and back home in Prescott, where she volunteered at an HIV/AIDS clinic and a women’s shelter,” he said.
As a high school student in Prescott, McCain noted, Mueller was recognized as a leader and received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence, as well as other honors.
Mueller is the fourth American to die while being held by Islamic State militants. Three others — journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig — were beheaded by the group.
Journalist Austin Tice disappeared in August 2012 while covering Syria’s civil war. It’s not clear what entity is holding him, but it is not believed to be the Islamic State group or the Syrian government, his family has said.
Mueller was taken hostage in August 2013 while leaving a hospital in Syria.Felicia Fonseca, Prescott, AP
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