PHOENIX (AP) - In a story June 23 about the parents of a woman killed by Islamic State group militants, The Associated Press reported erroneously the first name of Kayla Mueller’s father. He is Carl Mueller, not Karl Mueller. Also deletes the characterization of the circumstances of Kayla Mueller’s decision to go to Syria.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Parents of slain Prescott aid worker urge US to help hostage
The parents of a Prescott woman captured and killed by Islamic State group militants say they remain haunted every day that they could not secure her release
PHOENIX (AP) - The parents of a Prescott woman captured and killed by Islamic State group militants say they remain haunted every day that they could not secure her release.
Carl and Marsha Mueller, whose daughter Kayla was taken hostage in August 2013 in Syria, submitted a letter with families of three other slain hostages urging the U.S. to do everything possible to bring back a missing journalist.
“We will never fully recover from the horrific outcome of our own hostage crises,” the letter read. “But there is something that still can be done: Bring Austin Tice home.”
Tice, of Houston, was taken hostage in Syria in 2012. He was shown in a video six weeks later being led uphill by armed, masked men. He has not been heard from since.
The letter calls for President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials to do everything possible to ensure Tice is released.
The Muellers said they are unsure if the plea will do any good, but that they hope it helps, according to a phone interview with the Arizona Republic (https://bit.ly/28PdMy4) on Wednesday. It has been a year since Obama announced changes to improve how the U.S. government responded to foreign hostage situations.
Kayla Mueller was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Omar Alkhani, in August 2013 after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, where he had been hired to fix the Internet service for the hospital. Alkhani was released after two months, having been beaten.
Kayla Mueller’s death was confirmed in February 2015 by U.S. officials.
Carl Mueller said the U.S. should take military action against the Islamic State, and that right now there seem to be no repercussions for hurting Americans.
“They need to take forceful action against these people,” he said. “They need to know if you kidnap Americans, you are going to die. Right now, they’re given a free pass.”
Though the Muellers and Tice’s family are asking for more help, Karl Mueller said he doesn’t expect they’ll get a response.
“If he’s going to make any comment, he’ll say they are doing everything they can,” he said. “It’s the same thing that we heard over and over - ’we’re doing everything we can.’”
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