Kayla Mueller's Parents Say U.S. Ransom Policy Came First
“Any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home,” her father says.
In this May 30, 2013, photo, Kayla Mueller is shown after speaking to a group in Prescott, Ariz.
AP Photo/The Daily Courier, Matt HinshawThis article is for subscribers only.
The parents of Kayla Mueller, a slain American hostage of the Islamic State, say they understood U.S. policy about not paying ransom but that the government put it before their daughter's life.
“We understand the policy about not paying ransom, but on the other hand, any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home,” said Mueller's father, Carl, in excerpts of an NBC News interview set to air Monday. “And we tried, and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens’ lives. And it didn’t get it changed.”