Kayla Mueller smiles for a picture after speaking to a group in Prescott, Ariz. PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Friends say the American woman taken hostage by Islamic State militants was determined to get to Syria and learned Arabic so she could perform aid work and advocate for causes in the Middle East.
Kayla Mueller traveled to the Palestine territories, Israel and other countries before deciding a couple years ago that it was her calling to help the people of Syria, friends said Wednesday. She moved to an area in Turkey near the Syrian border, and about eight months later, she was captured in Syria by Islamic State militants. Her death was confirmed this week by her family and U.S. government.
College friends say Mueller often talked about going to Syria after she graduated Northern Arizona University, and they said she was determined to get there, despite the risks.
“She had determined over many years of serious internal questioning that the best way to deal with the suffering in the world was to face it directly, and to address it on the ground,” said Leslie Alamer, who attended college with Mueller.
Mueller’s trip from Turkey across the border into Syria in August 2013 was a dangerous move given the bloodshed that has gripped the country under the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Nearly half of Syria’s population has been displaced, and some 200,000 people have died in the fighting and crossfire.