Kayla Mueller Kiwanis member killed by ISIS
On the bottom right corner, Mueller is shown posing by a Kiwanis poster.
Feb 28, 2015
In the summer of May 2013, human rights activist and humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller was giving a speech about her work with Syrian refugees at a Kiwanis, the adult version of Key Club, conference. Three months later in Syria, she disappeared.
Mueller has always had a heart for helping those who need it. In 2009, after graduating, she spent two years living with humanitarian groups in India and Palestinian. When she returned in 2011, Mueller went on to volunteer at a women’s shelter in Arizona.
“I think any person that dies for a benevolent cause is to be remembered in every way possible,” sophomore Maria Solorzano said.
For over a year and a half, Mueller was separated from her family and held hostage by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). ISIS omitted her name from the press in order to protect her identity. ISIS also revealed through a social media post that Mueller was killed in a bombing by the Jordanian Air Force. Although ISIS’s claims are controversial, no one knows for sure if that was the cause of her death.
She’s the kind of American we want to be remembered. She was a good samaritan doing a higher power’s work in a middle of a war zone.
— History teacher and Key Club Sponsor, Mr. De Armas
On Feb. 10, Mueller’s family announced that evidence of Mueller’s body through photographs was sent to them by ISIS. The National Security Council was able to authenticate it. President Barack Obama later sent his condolences to the family.
Mueller will always be remembered for her desire to help others. Going above and beyond to do what your heart leads you to is one thing Mueller did until the end.
