American hostage Kayla Mueller's handwritten letter from IS captivity says she was safe, unharmed
After publicly holding out hope that their daughter was still alive, Kayla Mueller’s family confirmed Tuesday, as did the U.S. government, that the 26-year-old American aid worker is dead. And the family shared publicly a letter Mueller had written to them while in captivity.
Mueller had been held hostage by the Islamic State group since 2013, when she was kidnapped leaving a Doctor’s Without Borders hospital in the Syrian capital Aleppo. After Mueller’s death had been verified, her family released a copy of a letter Mueller wrote them from captivity in early 2014.
As the handwritten letter (published and transcribed by The Washington Post) explains, Mueller managed to get the note to her family with the help of her fellow hostages who had been released.
Mueller writes that she is “in a safe location, completely unharmed + healthy (put on weight in fact)” and that she has been “treated w/ the utmost respect and kindness.” She emphasizes that the only suffering she’s experienced in captivity is “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.”
Mueller’s tone is calm, writing that, with many hours to think, she’s discovered a closeness to God and realized how much her family means to her — even noting that she wrote a song about how their hope keeps her going.
“I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free,” Mueller writes. “I am grateful. I have come to see that there is good in every situation, we sometimes just have to look for it.”
In the letter, Mueller instructs her family to not take on the responsibility of negotiating her release. “Even if it takes more time,” she writes. “This should never have become your burden.”
Last week, the Islamic State announced that Mueller, the group’s only known American hostage, had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike. Jordan, which launched an attack on the Islamic State after a Jordanian military pilot was burned alive by the military group, repudiated the claim as propaganda, and U.S. officials remained skeptical and restrained as they searched for evidence to corroborate the Islamic State’s allegation.
In light of new information Tuesday, President Obama promised that, “No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death.”
Though Mueller had been held hostage for about a year and a half, her identity was revealed to the public only last week. Her family had intentionally avoided publicity out of concern for Mueller’s safety. Following the news of her death, parents Carl and Marsha Mueller expressed both sorrow over losing their daughter and pride in her work.
“We are so proud of the person Kayla was and the work she did when she was here with us,” they said in a statement. “She lived with purpose, and we will work every day to honor her legacy.”
Echoing the same strength Mueller conveyed in the letter, her parents said: “Our hearts are breaking for our only daughter, but we will continue on in peace, dignity, and love for her.”
