According to the jihadist group, Kayla Mueller was killed last Friday when Jordanian bombs rained down on northern Syria, flattening a building where she had been housed.
US President Barack Obama yesterday confirmed Ms Mueller’s death but said there was no proof to back up ISIS’s claims she perished during air strikes.
Today, new details emerged of Ms Mueller’s captivity, with “counterterrorism officials” saying it was likely she had been forced to wed.
“ISIS didn’t see her as a hostage or a bargaining chip,” one unnamed official told ABC News.
Ms Mueller’s family told the media on Friday that ISIS had referred to their daughter as a “guest” in private communications.
The US has limited intelligence on Syria and is forced to rely on drones and satellites for surveillance. Most of the time they had no idea of Ms Mueller’s whereabouts but occasionally her name would be overheard in phone calls between fighters, or a sensitive site was mentioned that indicated she was still alive.
There were also sightings of Ms Mueller in the company of an ISIS commander who was under surveillance. He appeared to have custody over her, possibly as a result of forced marriage, another official told ABC. She had also been seen alone.
Other sources told ABC News the US lost track of the young woman after militants demanded a $US6.6 million ransom, with a threat of execution, only to let the deadline pass — apparently without incident.
Matt Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said the group was well known for the “practice of essentially selling off, or putting young women and girls in the company of ISIS militants.”
It is understood that Ms Mueller was briefly able to communicate with some male hostages by passing them handwritten messages but was mostly kept away from them.
n a heartbreaking letter written last year and released by her family today, Ms Mueller said she was “in a safe location, completely unharmed (and) healthy. I have been treated with the utmost respect (and) kindness”.
Over the weekend, Ms Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, were emailed at least three photographs showing their deceased daughter. The correspondence has since been authenticated.
Two of the photographs showed Ms Mueller wearing a black Muslim head covering and another showed her wrapped in a white burial shroud, the New York Times reported.
Injuries to her face were clearly visible but it is not yet known if they are consistent with a bomb attack, as ISIS claims.
Jordanian and American authorities have both rejected responsibility for Ms Mueller’s death, saying the militants had not produced proof to back their assertions.
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