Thread by @meekwire

After the death in ISIS captivity of Kayla Mueller, her parents Carl and Marsha and Rev. @kmdday advised me to speak to two women in Turkey who were friends of Kayla’s and tried in vain to get the attention of US officials after she was kidnapped in 2013.
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When I called young American journalist Halla Barakat and her Syrian activist mom Dr. Orouba in 2015, I was stunned to learn they made repeated calls to US diplomats in Turkey and no one gave them the time of day, even though they had the most knowledge about Kayla’s kidnapping.

At FBI request, the Muellers recorded calls about Kayla. In their first call with Halla Barakat in 2015, she told them Syrians “hurt” when they don’t know how a loved one has died. “Kayla's one of these people. Her truth, I think just unfortunately died with her." Haunting words.

In 2016 @ABC2020 program devoted an hour to the story of Kayla Mueller. Halla and Orouba spoke lovingly about their friend and their efforts to try to help her after ISIS kidnapped her in Aleppo, Syria. We all were impressed by her poise and love for this wonderful humanitarian.

Early on Sept 22, 2017, a colleague in Turkey told me Halla and Orouba had been killed with a knife in their Istanbul flat. It was 7:00 AM here and I called Kayla Mueller’s parents in Arizona to deliver the second-worst news of their lives. My daughter saw me break as I told them

It’s a movie I’ve never been able to play in my head, a man violently slashing open my friend’s throat with a knife the cops never found, or if you believe the Turkish autopsy report, at least 10 stab wounds — which isn’t what her aunt her saw while washing the bodies for burial.

Months before their murders, Halla worked in the @ABCInvestigates office. I stepped off the elevator from DC and this beautiful young woman greeted me and said “James!” She must’ve read my perplexed look (I didn’t know she was in NY), she immediately shouted “It’s Halla!” Joy!

Halla began translating Arabic language videos we obtained of Iraqi spec ops torturing and executing civilians in Mosul. She sat beside me watching the gruesome videos. I worried it was too much for her. “James,” she said, cocking her head, “I’m Syrian.”

abcnews.go.com/International/…

Seeing Halla Barakat in NY was a happy reunion. I knew Carl and Marsha, the parents of Kayla Mueller, the humanitarian aid worker from Arizona, adored this young American journalist and her fearless mom for all they had done to try to help their daughter. We sent them a selfie

The persistence of Halla Barakat’s remarkable cousin in Calif., Dr. Suzanne Barakat, 29, compelled us to help her demand answers about what if anything USG had done. Incredibly, Suzanne lost her brother Deah in the 2015 Chapel Hill hate crime triple-murder
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