Bsuccess.Org: Carl Mueller was an active member and former president of the club. Kayla was well-known there, too — when she had been home for a visit in summer 2013, she had come to speak to the club about her work abroad; the local newspaper had even written a story about her speech.
Things since then had seemed normal, with Carl going to regular meetings. That February day, it became clear the normalcy had been a facade.
Kayla, who had since returned to Turkey, had crossed into war-torn Syria and been captured by Islamic extremists.
Carl started to tell Ballard the details but stopped short when someone else walked into the room.
But before the two parted, Carl relayed to Ballard what he would say to so many others over the 18 months of Kayla's captivity. You can't say anything, he told her — Kayla's name can't be released in the news.
"He came to Kiwanis meetings for several months; after a while, he had to quit coming," Ballard said. "Too many people would say, 'Hey, how's Kayla doing?' It was too hard for him to say, 'She's doing fine,' tears in his eyes."
Carl and Marsha Mueller, and those who knew their secret, had no way of knowing then how it would come to an end. On Feb. 6, the name of their daughter, Kayla Mueller, would be released by the very group that first insisted it be kept quiet. After 18 months in the captivity of the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, the terrorist group reported that Kayla had been killed by a Jordanian air strike.
Although the manner of death still cannot be confirmed, the Muellers confirmed her death days later.
Interviews over the past two weeks with friends in Prescott and elsewhere trace the path of the secret her parents kept. The truth spread slowly but deliberately, first to a chosen few, then to several dozen. Some had pieced it together days after the abduction; others were told after several months.
A few days later, Bonnie said, Marsha invited her over and told her everything they knew. At the time, the rule was that no details could even be discussed over the phone, Bonnie said. Marsha gave Bonnie permission to tell Brandy over Skype, although not directly. She would use euphemisms like "that person we've been worried about," Bonnie recalled.
Over the next several months, Bonnie and Marsha would talk for hours, Bonnie said, with the women always believing Kayla would eventually win her captors over.
Across town and around the same time, Cindy Craig said, she had a vision.
"A lot of people would think this sounds crazy," she said. After becoming a Christian more than seven years ago, she said, she began to have visions. About the time Kayla was abducted, Cindy had another one — about Kayla.
"Two days, three days after she'd been taken, I called (Mueller's parents)," she said. "I just knew. I just knew."
Cindy said she kept the information from everyone she knew.
"The only thing that I ever did was in our prayer group — and I asked her mom if I could have permission to do this," Cindysaid. "I said, can we pray for Kayla? I'll just put down that there's a young girl in Turkey, and we'll just pray for her safety." Cindy said Marsha gave her consent.
Carl Mueller also began to approach select people, people he wanted to tell. He had tracked down then-Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett to ask for his help; Bennett had put him in touch with top officials in Washington.
By the new year of 2014, Carl talked to Linda Ballard at the Kiwanis Club.
He also went to the Daily Courier in Prescott, ready to plead with its editors, according to staff at the newspaper.
In a meeting with City Editor Tim Wiederaenders and then-Managing Editor Karen Despain, he said his daughter had been kidnapped in Syria.
I wanted to let you guys know first, staff recalled Carl saying, but please, please, don't publish anything. Going public would mean death for his daughter.
The issue went to the publisher, Kelly Soldwedel Thornhill, who considered the request and ultimately agreed. The paper would not release any information until they received Mueller's approval.
Soldwedel Thornhill said no tips were ever leaked to the paper on the matter.
"It was pretty silent," she said last week in an interview with The Republic. "We didn't want her endangered, so why would we do anything to get her worse off?"
For much of the year, the secret steeped quietly.
In July 2014, U.S. forces conducted a raid on an ISIL compound in Syria. Officials later announced the operation, saying it had been a failed attempt to liberate another American hostage, James Foley. Officials did not say at the time that Kayla, too, was among those they were trying to save.
By November 2014, Carl was worried that news of Kayla's capture would soon be released and would blindside the other members of the Kiwanis Club. So, in a carefully worded letter that would be shared with the entire 70-member club, he released the basic information.
After that letter, the Kiwanis Club members flooded the Muellers with support, Ballard said, raising money for travel and other expenses. At one point, Carl mentioned that all of the other ISIL hostages' mothers had tablets to better track relevant news reports.
"So I decided she needed a tablet, and said, let's raise some money," Ballard said. "Whatever they needed. ... Kiwanis members, they all kept saying, 'What can we do, what can we do?'"
The circle was larger, but the secret held. Then, in January, there came a slip.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough was making the full run of Sunday-morning news shows Jan. 25. When he appeared on ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos asked if there was any information on the American woman being held by ISIL.
"We are sparing no expense and sparing no effort, both in trying to make sure that we know where they are and make sure that we're prepared to do anything we must to try to get them home," McDonough said. "But Kayla's family knows how strongly the president feels about this, and we will continue to work this."[usatoday]
