Marsha and Carl Mueller, parents of slain aid worker Kayla Mueller, were interviewed for a Brian Ross report titled “The Girl Left Behind”.
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Mueller was kidnapped by ISIS in 2013 when she was working with Doctors Without Borders near Aleppo, Syria.
“They’re a fabulous organization, and they do wonderful work”, Carl Mueller told ABC News’ “20/20” in the interview to be broadcast this Friday, “but somewhere in a boardroom, they chose to leave our daughter there to be tortured and raped and ultimately murdered”.
Her family provided the video to ABC News in the United States, which will air the clip on Friday as part of a show about Mueller’s captivity.
Speaking to USA television station ABC, her father Carl said it he was deeply affected by having to watch the video. US officials confirmed a year ago she was killed. Her mother, Marsha Mueller, said that she “saw how thin [Kayla] looked, but I saw that her eyes were very clear and steady”. “They probably put makeup on her before they shot the video”.
Kayla’s former fellow hostages, Frida Saide and Patricia Chavez, speak exclusively with “20/20”, describing her life in captivity and the inhumane conditions and abuse they all experienced while being held by ISIS. They demanded millions of dollars as a ransom and continued to hold her even after murdering a string of British and American journalists and aid workers.
In the film she appears wearing a hijab and said: “My name is Kayla Mueller”.
“But I also saw her strength”.
The proof-of-life video was meant to serve a few basic purposes, according to Chris Voss, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation chief hostage negotiator who examined the video.
‘In addition, MSF would like to explain decisions that we made following Kayla’s abduction in August 2013, ‘ the statement read. “Right now, they’re given a free pass”. They controlled everything they said.
Mueller’s father called Doctors Without Borders a “fabulous organization and they do wonderful work”. Another hostage, a 13-year-old member of the Yazidi tribe also held captive with Kayla, shares how when she and a fellow hostage told Kayla of their plans to escape, Kayla insisted they leave without her because her presence would make it too unsafe. Chris Voss, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation chief hostage negotiator thought the DWB decision was “stunning”. She signed off with her last known word: “Goodbye”. Most American families of ISIS hostages received few emails from the hostage-takers but the Muellers received nine.
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“Mum and dad, I still am remaining healthy”. Those detaining me are demanding an exchange of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s release for my release.
