An American CEO is among those killed in the Kenya hotel attack

At least 14 killed as Kenya hotel siege is declared over

Jason Spindler, founder and managing director of I-DEV International, died in the attack on the DusitD2 compound, an upmarket cluster of shops and hotel facilities in the capital of Nairobi, his company said.

Armed men burst into the complex with gunfire and explosions Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 14 people in an attack that lasted hours and ended Wednesday morning, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Spindler's mother, Sarah Spindler, told NBC News on Tuesday night that her son "was trying to make positive change in the third world in emerging markets."

"We all miss him so much. And it's so sad that such a bright young person is taken away by terrorism," Sarah Spindler told NBC News.

I-DEV says it is a strategy and investment advisory firm that attempts to grow businesses in emerging markets.

Spindler, a University of Texas business graduate who received a doctoral law degree at New York University, once served in the US Peace Corps in northern Peru, where he "led the growth of a $7 million locally owned agribusiness," a biography on I-DEV's website says.

He also was an investment banker with Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup, and had advised more than 100 small- or medium-sized businesses in emerging markets, his biography reads.

The US State Department said an American died in the Kenya attack, but did not provide details.

CNN's Farai Sevenzo and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.

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