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At an age when most children are preoccupied with friends and school, Kayla Jean Mueller devoted herself to helping those in need around the world.
She worked with aid groups in Arizona as well as in countries such as India and Turkey.
But her journey came to an abrupt halt in August 2013 when she was seized after leaving a hospital in Aleppo in Syria.Since then, little had been heard of the 26-year-old until Friday, when Islamic State said a Jordanian air strike in the northern city of Raqqa had killed Mueller.
"The common thread of Kayla's life has been her quiet leadership and strong desire to serve others," her family said as they awaited verification of the claim.
As a high school student at Tri City College Prep in the small city of Prescott, Mueller picked up awards for her volunteer efforts with groups such as AmeriCorps, America's Promise and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
She told her local newspaper, the Daily Courier, in 2007 that she was interested in world affairs and wanted to work in the Darfur region of Sudan.
After graduating from Northern Arizona University in 2009, she worked with aid groups in India, Israel and the Palestinian territories. She returned to Arizona in 2011, where she worked for an HIV/Aids clinic and volunteered for a women's shelter.
Late that year, she moved to France to learn French while working as an au pair in preparation for a move to Africa.
But the plight of families fleeing Syria drew her to Turkey in December 2012. She worked with the aid groups Support to Life and the Danish Refugee Council.
"Kayla found this work heartbreaking but compelling," her family said. "When asked what kept her going in her mission, she said, 'I find God in the suffering eyes reflected in mine, if this is how you are revealed to me, this is how I will forever seek you'."
Doctors Without Borders, which ran the hospital in Aleppo, said Mueller had accompanied a technician sent by a company contracted by the organisation to perform repairs at one of its buildings in the city.
They spent the evening at the hospital for safety reasons, according to a spokesman for the organisation. She was abducted the next day en route to the bus station in Aleppo, where she planned to depart for Turkey, the spokesman said.
Nicolas Henin, a French journalist who was freed in April, said on Twitter that Mueller was "among the very last of my former cellmates still detained".
"I was full of hope she could have a way out," he said.
Mueller shared some of her experiences with the Prescott Kiwanis Club in 2013, including a story of trying to reunite a father with his six-year-old son after a bombing at a refugee camp in Turkey. She eventually found the boy as he came out of surgery at a hospital, but the man's wife had been killed.
"This story is not rare in Syria," Mueller said, according to an article in the Daily Courier. "When Syrians hear I'm an American, they ask, 'Where is the world?' All I can do is cry with them, because I don't know."
She made a promise that day: "For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal," she said. "It's important to stop and realise what we have, why we have it and how privileged we are. And from that place, start caring and get a lot done."
Additional reporting by Washington Post
 


	US immigrants 'funded terrorism'
Six Bosnian immigrants to the United States have been accused of sending money and equipment to terrorists oversees, including fighters with the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda in Iraq.
An indictment unsealed in St Louis said the defendants donated money themselves and in some cases collected funds from others in the US and sent the donations oversees.
It said two of the defendants used some of the money to buy US military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment, which was shipped to people in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to terrorists.
The supplies and money eventually made their way to fighters in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, according to the indictment. All of the defendants allegedly knew where the money and supplies were going.
The indictment alleged the conspiracy began no later than May 2013 and that the defendants used email, phones and social media websites including Facebook to communicate using coded words, such as "lions" and "Bosnian brothers."
All six of those charged were natives of Bosnia living legally in the US. Three were naturalised citizens - the other three had either refugee or legal resident status, according to the US attorney's office.
All now face charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, and with providing material support to terrorists. Nihad Rosic and Ramiz Hodzic were also charged with conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country.
The indictment said that last July, Rosic tried to board a flight from New York to Syria to join the fight.
Associated Press


Arizona woman Kayla Mueller wanted to help people; she is now feared killed in Jordanian air strike on Syria

Kayla Mueller (left) with her mother Marsha. Photo: AFP

US says 'no proof' to IS claim that airstrike killed American hostage; family 'hopeful' she is alive

The jihadist group IS claims an American aid worker it has been holding hostage since 2013 was killed in a coalition airstrike in Syria. Photo: AP

Jordanian Queen Rania, flanked by security, joins a demonstration in the capital Amman to express solidarity with the pilot murdered by the Islamic State (IS) group. Photo: AFP

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Kayla Mueller devoted her life to serving people in need around the world, travelling to India, Turkey and finally Syria where she was seized


At an age when most children are preoccupied with friends and school, Kayla Jean Mueller devoted herself to helping those in need around the world.


Arizona woman Kayla Mueller wanted to help people; she is now feared killed in Jordanian air strike on Syria

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Kayla Mueller devoted her life to serving people in need around the world, travelling to India, Turkey and finally Syria where she was seized

Kayla Mueller devoted her life to serving people in need around the world, travelling to India, Turkey and finally Syria where she was seized