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Jun 16, 2007 1:01 pm US/Eastern
ID Card Of Missing Lawrence Soldier Found In Iraq
Identification Discovered In Al Qaeda Safe House
BAGHDAD (WBZ) ―
The identification cards of two American soldiers missing since an attack on their unit in May were found in an al Qaeda safe house north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Saturday. One of those two soldiers is Spc. Alex Jimenez of Lawrence.
The cards for Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty of Michigan were discovered along with computers, video production equipment, rifles and ammunition at the otherwise empty house near Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The two were snatched in a raid on their 10th Mountain Division unit more than a month ago near Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad. The body of a third soldier who was taken in the raid, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., was found floating in the Euphrates River.
"Bad news is good news," Wendy Luzon, a friend of the Jimenez family, said Saturday. "It's better than not getting any news for weeks. Getting this news is something good. We keep hoping that he's alive. We have nothing that tells us differently."
The Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al Qaeda, claimed in a video posted on the Internet this month that all three missing soldiers were killed and buried. The militants showed images of the military IDs of Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., but offered no proof that they were dead.
Last weekend a Mass and vigil were held for Jimenez at St. Mary's Church in Lawrence. Jimenez's family members said they were confident he is still alive. Asked whether he believes his son will return home, Alex's father said, "I feel it. I feel it. I know it will be."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
