--- description: Kayla Mueller said she was "remaining strong" title: Read an American ISIS Hostage's Last Letter to Her Family image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt189aba38e7bc1270/69877e6655a859afc5a85bab/kayla-mueller-isis.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Terrorism](/tag/terrorism/) ## Terrorism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read an American ISIS Hostage's Last Letter to Her Family by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2015 2:08 PM CUT  Kayla Mueller, 26, an American humanitarian worker from Prescott, Ariz. Kayla Mueller, 26, an American humanitarian worker from Prescott, Ariz.Mueller Family—Reuters by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2015 2:08 PM CUT An American who died while held captive by the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) [wrote in her final letter to her family](http://www.today.com/news/read-isis-hostage-kayla-muellers-last-letter-her-family-my-2D80504725 "undefined") that she was “OK, healthy, remaining strong and being treated kindly.” “Do not worry… I love you all,” Kayla Mueller wrote in the letter, [revealed Monday on NBC’s _Today_ show](http://www.today.com/news/read-isis-hostage-kayla-muellers-last-letter-her-family-my-2D80504725 "undefined"). “My heart longs to be with you all as… I have never felt before, but praise be to God you are in my dreams almost every evening and for just those brief moments in my sleeping conscious that we are together I am given a warmth.” The Obama Administration confirmed earlier this month that Mueller, an aid worker who was 26, had died. ISIS said she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike, but U.S. officials haven’t confirmed that. [Read the full letter at NBC](http://www.today.com/news/kayla-muellers-parents-why-we-feel-isis-wanted-release-our-2D80507618 "undefined") _Read next:_ [_What Kayla Mueller’s Life Reveals About Her Generation_](http://time.com/3705013/kayla-muller-millennials-role-model/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3718555/kayla-mueller-isis-letter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3718555/kayla-mueller-isis-letter/"},"headline":"Read an American ISIS Hostage's Last Letter to Her Family","datePublished":"2015-02-23T14:08:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:37:31.946Z","description":"Kayla Mueller said she was \"remaining strong\"","url":"https://time.com/3718555/kayla-mueller-isis-letter/","keywords":["Terrorism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt189aba38e7bc1270/69877e6655a859afc5a85bab/kayla-mueller-isis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt189aba38e7bc1270/69877e6655a859afc5a85bab/kayla-mueller-isis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kayla Mueller, 26, an American humanitarian worker from Prescott, Ariz.","caption":"Kayla Mueller, 26, an American humanitarian worker from Prescott, Ariz.","creditText":"Mueller Family—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/terrorism/","name":"Terrorism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3718555/kayla-mueller-isis-letter/","name":"Read an American ISIS Hostage's Last Letter to Her Family"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s Battle for Brand Supremacy","description":"They may share similar goals but the two groups are bitter rivals","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gK3s3WLk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-04T23:06:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gK3s3WLk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3718555/kayla-mueller-isis-letter/","duration":"PT5M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3718555/kayla-mueller-isis-letter/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```