An American hiker killed in Israel was identified Monday as a Christian missionary from Virginia who resided in England, officials said.

Kristine Luken, 44, was stabbed to death Saturday outside Jerusalem with a fellow missionary who said they were attacked by unknown Arab men.

Israeli officials initially misidentified Luken as Christine Logan.

Luken worked for a missionary group called the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People, which seeks to get Jews to accept Jesus as the messiah.

The group is active in Israel.

In a profile on the group's website, Luken said she had undergone a spiritual awakening while visiting the country in 2007 and went to work for the ministry in England.

She had been hiking with friend Kaye Susan Wilson, an Israeli citizen born in England, when they were bound and stabbed by two knife-wielding men.

Wilson, 46, was stabbed several times but survived.

Israeli officials said they were treating the attack as politically motivated, but were also considering other possibilities.

Wilson and Luken became friends on a study tour in Poland earlier this year, church officials said.

NY Daily News