The days pass one after the other in Prescott, Arizona, without bringing any real answer about Kayla Mueller.
For a year and half, Mueller's family in this idyllic town has lived with the knowledge that the Islamic militant group ISIS is holding the 26-year-old American aid worker.
Publicly, they kept silent about her plight, with her captors threatening to execute her if the family spoke out.
But on Friday, ISIS claimed that Mueller had been killed in a building that was hit during a Jordanian airstrike on Raqqa, the militants' de facto capital in Syria.
"Friday was a dark day," said Todd Geiler, a longtime friend of the family. "Punched a hole through you. A big hole."
But ISIS offered no proof to back up its claim, other than an image of a building in rubble.
The Muellers are holding out hope that she's still alive, imploring the militant group to contact them.
"We have sent you a private message and ask that you respond to us privately," her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, said in a statement Friday.
"You told us that you treated Kayla as your guest," they said. "As your guest her safety and well-being remains your responsibility."
For a year and half, Mueller's family in this idyllic town has lived with the knowledge that the Islamic militant group ISIS is holding the 26-year-old American aid worker.
Publicly, they kept silent about her plight, with her captors threatening to execute her if the family spoke out.
But on Friday, ISIS claimed that Mueller had been killed in a building that was hit during a Jordanian airstrike on Raqqa, the militants' de facto capital in Syria.
"Friday was a dark day," said Todd Geiler, a longtime friend of the family. "Punched a hole through you. A big hole."
But ISIS offered no proof to back up its claim, other than an image of a building in rubble.
The Muellers are holding out hope that she's still alive, imploring the militant group to contact them.
"We have sent you a private message and ask that you respond to us privately," her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, said in a statement Friday.
"You told us that you treated Kayla as your guest," they said. "As your guest her safety and well-being remains your responsibility."
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