Parents of Kayla Mueller hope to find her remains in Syria

Kayla Mueller was captured by ISIS in 2013 while doing aid work in Syria and confirmed dead by US authorities in 2015

The parents of ISIS victim Kayla Mueller are hopeful of bringing her body home for a proper burial with the help of two captured jihadis.

Marsha and Carl Mueller believe Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, two members of the jihadi group known as The Beatles, may hold the key to finding their daughter’s remains, which are believed to be somewhere in Syria.

Kotey and Elsheikh were captured by Kurdish forces earlier this month while trying to sneak back into Europe and have been helping forensic teams identify the burial sites of ISIS victims.

It is thought that Kotey and Elsheikh helped to torture Mueller before she died, and therefore might know where she was buried. 

Her parents say that finding her body will finally bring them closure by eradicating any possibility that she is still alive.

Throughout 2017, after her death had been announced, government sources continued hearing rumors that she was alive somewhere in the Middle East.

‘Until we have her back, we can never be sure,’ Marsha told Arizona Central.

Parents Carl and Marsha Mueller say they are hopeful of bringing her remains home with the help of two jihadis captured earlier this month

Parents Carl and Marsha Mueller say they are hopeful of bringing her remains home with the help of two jihadis captured earlier this month

Mueller's parents hope that seeing her body will allow them closure, because until then they cannot give up a sliver of hope that she is still alive

Mueller’s parents hope that seeing her body will allow them closure, because until then they cannot give up a sliver of hope that she is still alive

Mueller was taken hostage by ISIS in 2013 while doing aid work in Syria and though she was confirmed dead by US authorities in 2015, the exact circumstances of her death remain unclear.

ISIS claimed she was killed by falling rubble during a Jordanian airstrike. Pentagon staff said there is ‘no doubt’ she was killed by jihadis, but they do not know how.

During her 18-month captivity, Mueller was taken as a wife by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and raped multiple times, according to the testimony of Yazidi sex slaves who say they were kept alongside her.

She was also forced to convert to Islam but did not truly accept the religion, the Yazidis said.

While she acquiesced to all of Baghdadi’s demands under the threat of being beheaded, in private she described what happened to her as ‘rape’, they added. 

Alexanda Kotey, 34 (left), and El Shafee Elsheikh, 29 (right), formed part of the jihadi group known as The Beatles and have been captured by Kurdish forces. It is believed they helped torture Mueller before she died, and may know where she is buried

Kotey and Elsheikh took part in brutal ISIS beheadings alongside Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John. US officials say they have been helping to identify the graves of some of his victims near Raqqa

Kotey and Elsheikh took part in brutal ISIS beheadings alongside Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John. US officials say they have been helping to identify the graves of some of his victims near Raqqa

Kotey and Elsheikh formed half of the notorious Beatles group alongside Aine Davis and Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John.

They were dubbed The Beatles by their captives because of their British accents. Three of them were born in the UK, while Emwazi originated from Kuwait but grew up in London. 

Before his death in November 2015, Emwazi became ISIS ‘executioner’, beheading British and American prisoners in sickening videos that were posted online.

Among the victims were James Foley, Steven Stoloff, Alan Henning, David Haines, and Peter Kassig.

Last week it was reported that Kotey and Elsheikh had led a team of forensic experts to a mass grave outside of Raqqa where some of the remains are believed to have been buried.

Aine Davis was also part of the jihadi cell. He was captured in Turkey and was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail in 2017

Aine Davis was also part of the jihadi cell. He was captured in Turkey and was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail in 2017

CNN said that it may be difficult to identify the remains since a large number of victims are buried at the site and ISIS has taken pains to disguise it.

Emwazi himself was killed in a US airstrike in Syria in 2015 while Kotey and Elsheikh, both from West London, were captured by the Western-backed Syrian Defence Force last month as they were fleeing Syria to Turkey disguised as refugees.

The SDF did not know the two Britons were part of the same cell led by Jihadi John.

But after interrogations by US officials, it was discovered that they were the last two members of the gang.

The fourth member, Aine Davis, was convicted of being a member of a terrorist organisation and jailed for seven-and-a-half years in Silivri, Turkey, in May 2017. 



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