Beatrice Stockli | Twitter Beatrice Stockli, an evangelical missionary from Switzerland who was held captive by Islamist extremists in Mali since January 2016, has reportedly been killed, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs announced. She was 59. "It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of our fellow citizen," Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis said in a recent statement. Information about Stockli’s death came from recently released French hostage Sophie Pétronin, a 75-year-old French charity worker who was abducted by jihadists in December 2016, BBC reported. Pétronin, who converted to Islam during her captivity, reported that the missionary was reportedly shot dead about a month ago after she refused to take part in another move with her kidnappers in the Sahara. Pétronin said they moved around regularly to keep Malian and French soldiers from tracking them down. She said Stockli was dragged outdoors one night during her protest and she then heard a shot go off.