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[h=4]White House confirms death of aid worker[/h]Islamic State had claimed Kayla Jean Mueller was killed in Jordanian air strike
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Kayla Mueller's family and President Obama released statements after learning that the 26-year-old Arizona native has been killed, confirming earlier reports. She had been held hostage by the Islamic State since 2013.
An undated handout photo provided by the Daily Courier shows U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller speaking to the Prescott Kiwanis Club about the situation in Syria and efforts to build a second camp for Syrian refugees in Turkey.(Photo: Matt Hinshaw, Handout/European Pressphoto Agency)
WASHINGTON — The White House confirmed the death of American aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller on Tuesday, four days after Islamic State militants claimed she had been killed by Jordanian airstrikes in Syria.
"It is with profound sadness that we have learned of the death of Kayla Jean Mueller," President Obama said in a statement. "On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I convey our deepest condolences to Kayla's family."
USA TODAY
Family confirms Kayla Mueller, held by ISIS, is dead
USA TODAY
Swift emotional reaction online to Kayla Mueller's death
Obama's statement sheds no further light on how Mueller, 26, was killed. U.S. national security officials have said they had no evidence to support claims that she was killed by U.S.-allied operations against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.
The National Security Council said intelligence officials have confirmed her death. "Over the weekend, the family received a private message from Kayla's ISIL captors containing additional information. Once this information was authenticated by the intelligence community, they concluded that Kayla was deceased," said Bernadette Meehan, an NSC spokeswoman.
Mueller went to the Turkish-Syrian border in December 2012 to help help refugees from the Syrian civil war. She was captured Aug. 4, 2013 —10 days before her 25th birthday, the family said.
Her family kept her captivity a secret for 18 months, until Islamic State militants claimed last Friday that she had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike.
"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," said the statement from her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, and her brother, Eric Mueller.
USA TODAY
A look at those killed or held captive by Islamic State
"Our hearts are breaking for our only daughter, but we will continue on in peace, dignity, and love for her," the family said. "We remain heartbroken, also, for the families of the other captives who did not make it home safely and who remain in our thoughts and prayers. We pray for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria."
The family released a letter Kayla Mueller wrote from captivity in the spring of 2014, evidently delivered by a released hostage.
USA TODAY
Islamic State hostage wrote 'I have a lot of fight left'
"If you could say I have 'suffered' at all throughout this whole experience it is only in knowing how much suffering I have put you all through; I will never ask you to forgive me as I do not deserve forgiveness," she told her family. "I DO NOT want the negotiations for my release to be your duty. If there is any other option take it, even if it takes more time. This should never have become your burden."
Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.
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