Amman, Jordan (CNN)The
parents of Kayla Mueller are imploring ISIS to talk to them. They
believe -- or at least hope -- that their daughter may still be alive.
"We have sent you a private message and ask that you respond to us privately," Carl and Marsha Mueller said in a statement.
Until now, they said, they have not talked to the media as ISIS warned them not to.
The
terror group captured Mueller, an Arizona native, in 2013. It said
Friday that a Jordanian airstrike that pounded their de facto capital of
Raqqa in Syria also killed her.
CNN had previously not published her name at the request of her relatives, who have now publicly identified her.
'Liars,' no proof
As the U.S. worked to verify the claim, Jordan slammed the terror group.
"What
we know about this terrorist organization is that they are liars when
it comes to these things," said spokesman Mohammed al-Momani. He cast
doubt on the extremists' ability to identify Jordanian warplanes, many
U.S. made F-16s, flying at high altitudes.
Jordan
has pounded ISIS targets since it released a video Tuesday showing its
members burning Jordanian pilot Lt. Moath al-Kasasbeh to death.
Jordan says the terrorists' claim about the death of the American aid worker is likely a phony PR stunt.
But her parents just want their daughter back.
"We are still hopeful that Kayla is alive," they said.
"You
told us that you treated Kayla as your guest, as your guest her safety
and wellbeing remains your responsibility," they said.
Questions, suspicions
ISIS has shown no proof the 26-year-old was killed, other than a
building laid to rubble and the claim that her body was inside.
Experts
have questioned why no militants died in the collapsed building, if
they were holding Mueller there, or why -- if the building had just been
crushed -- there was no smoke from smoldering debris.
Skeptics
fear ISIS may have long killed her and just waited for an opportunity
to officially announce the death -- a suspicion that has been floated
before when ISIS uploaded slickly produced, odious videos of other
victims' killings.
Summer death threat
Jordanian
officials said they have reason to believe al-Kasasbeh was actually
killed in early January, and that ISIS lied about him still being alive
while trying to negotiate advantages in exchange for him.
The group has a penchant for executing, not freeing.
ISIS
had implied they might kill Mueller last summer. They set a deadline of
August 13, 2014, for a 5 million Euro ransom to be paid to prevent her
murder, according to a source close to the family.
U.S.
officials are investigating on the theory that she may have died weeks
or months ago, but that ISIS was possibly ashamed to announce they had
killed a woman.
But retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Reese says it's plausible a hostage may have been inadvertently killed in Syria.
"We
all know that intelligence ... in Syria is not as good as we have in
Iraq now," Reese said. "So it is plausible, and it could be unfortunate.
But sometimes ... that happens in these wars," he said.
Faith and compassion
Mueller landed in Syria following her faith, empathy for human suffering and wanderlust.
In
her home state, she worked in an AIDS clinic and volunteered at a
woman's shelter. After graduating from Northern Arizona University, the
Prescott native traveled to India and Israel.
"I
find God in the suffering eyes reflected in mine. If this is how you
are revealed to me ... this is how I will forever seek you," she said,
according to her family.
In 2012, Mueller went to Syria with the Danish Refugee Council and Support to Life humanitarian agency.
She
fell into the hands of hostage takers in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria,
her family said, after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital.
Litany of atrocities
The list of ISIS atrocities is long and growing. It extends far beyond the glitzy video celebrations of hostage murders.
The
terrorists have wiped out villages of people whose religion they
reject, summarily executing hundreds, kidnapping scores of women, then
raping them and passing them into slavery.
They have stooped to selling children, a U.N. report this week claimed.
They
aim to instill fear in people's hearts, as they aspire to virtually
take over the world with a caliphate, but their barbarism is having the
opposite effect as well, unleashing disgust and wrath against them.
Putting
al-Kasasbeh in a cage and setting him on fire has fueled resolve among
Jordanians to stop the group's smudging of their religion by killing in
its name.
Wrath of Jordan
King Abdullah II promised the pilot's family revenge, and the military sent out warplanes after the brutal killing.
On
Friday, a squadron from the Royal Jordanian Air Force carried out more
strikes against ISIS targets, the military said in statement.
The
Jordanian armed forces did not immediately provide details on the
number of aircraft nor what targets were hit. Activists told CNN that
one strike killed 47 ISIS fighters.
Thousands
filled the King Hussein Mosque in Amman, listening to a sermon decrying
ISIS as directly opposed to Islam and insisting that Muslims cannot
stand idly by.
After prayers, crowds
spilled out onto the streets to march calmly and defiantly toward Palm
Square. Many held up banners and signs -- including Queen Rania, with a
poster that read, "Moath, the martyr of justice." They chanted, "Long
live the King."
ISIS own actions may help galvanize Jordan into a determined foe.
"This is definitely not the U.S.'s war," said Interior Minister Hussein Majali. "This is definitely our war."
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