WASHINGTON — The parents of Kayla Jean Mueller (MYOO’-lur) have released a letter their daughter had written to them while being held by the Islamic State group.
In it, the 26-year-old aid worker said she was “in a safe location, completely unharmed.”
Mueller also tells her parents she is “fighting” and has “a lot of fight left inside.” She writes that she is “not breaking down” and “will not give in no matter how long it takes.”
Mueller traveled to the Turkish-Syrian border in December 2012 to work with several humanitarian groups. She was taken into captivity nine months later while leaving a hospital in Syria.
The White House says U.S. intelligence has authenticated a letter from the Islamic State group informing the Muellers of their daughter’s death but has not been able to determine how or when she died.
In a statement, Carl and Marsha Mueller say Kayla “lived with purpose,” and they pledge to “work every day to honor her legacy.”