US President Barack Obama issued a statement on Tuesday expressing "profound sadness" over learning of the death of Kayla Jean Mueller, an American who had been held captive by ISIL for the last year and a half.
"On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I convey our deepest condolences to Kaylaآ’s family - her parents, Marsha and Carl, and her brother Eric and his family - and all of those who loved Kayla dearly," Obama said in the statement released by the White House. "At this time of unimaginable suffering, the country shares in their grief." On Friday, ISIL said Mueller had been killed in a building that was hit during a Jordanian airstrike on Raqqa in Syria, but offered no proof other than an image of a building in rubble. But on Tuesday, the family of Mueller said it had received proof that the 26-year-old social worker was dead.
"Kayla dedicated her life to helping others in need at home and around the world," Obama said. In Prescott, Arizona, she volunteered at a womenآ’s shelter and worked at an HIV/AIDS clinic, he noted.
"She worked with humanitarian organizations in India, Israel and the Palestinian territories, compelled by her desire to serve others," the President said. "Eventually, her path took her to Turkey, where she helped provide comfort and support to Syrian refugees forced to flee their homes during the war. Kaylaآ’s compassion and dedication to assisting those in need shows us that even among unconscionable evil, the essential decency of humanity can live on." No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kaylaآ’s captivity and death, Obama said "ISIL is a hateful and abhorrent terrorist group whose actions stand in stark contrast to the spirit of people like Kayla," he said. "On this day, we take comfort in the fact that the future belongs not to those who destroy, but rather to the irrepressible force of human goodness that Kayla Mueller shall forever represent."