BAGHDAD, July 20 -- Two U.S. soldiers missing since an attack on a checkpoint last week have been found dead near a power plant in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, according to U.S. officials, and Iraqi officials say the soldiers had been tortured.Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Muhammed-Jassim, head of operations at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said the soldiers had been "barbarically" killed. U.S. officials would not confirm or deny that the men, who were identified Monday as Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., had been tortured by their captors.
"Coalition forces have in fact recovered what we believe to be the remains of our two soldiers," said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, at a Baghdad news conference. Caldwell said the bodies were found Monday night after dark but were recovered early Tuesday because of concern of makeshift bombs around the bodies. Caldwell said the area was cordoned off overnight and explosive ordinance teams went in the next day to recover the remains. He said the remains have been taken to a U.S. base in Iraq and will be transported back to the United States for DNA verification and full autopsies.
Menchaca and Tucker were reported missing after an attack at a checkpoint near Yusufiyah that killed a third soldier, Spec. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass.
Answering questions, Caldwell said the two soldiers had been kidnapped after the attack -- the first time the military confirmed the men had been abducted by insurgents. He said an investigation was underway as to why the three soldiers were alone at a checkpoint. Caldwell said one U.S. soldier was killed and 12 others wounded in the extensive search for the missing soldiers.
An Internet message purportedly posted under the name of the Mujaheddin al-Shura Council -- an umbrella group of insurgents including al-Qaeda in Iraq -- claimed to have abducted the soldiers, and it mocked U.S. efforts to find them. "The American army conducted raids campaign with various vehicles and armored vehicle near site of the incident," the statement said, promising more details in the coming days. "But the Army of 'the mightiest state in the world' went back defeated, dragging the robes of shame and disgrace behind it." Caldwell told reporters the Web posting "lacks credibility."
The attack and apparent abduction of U.S. troops in Yusufiyah has raised questions about how the three soldiers became isolated from a larger force. U.S. soldiers generally travel in convoys of at least two Humvees carrying several soldiers, particularly in areas with a known insurgent presence. While some news reports have suggested other U.S. vehicles and personnel were at the site during the attack, Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said there were no other troops present. "Our reporting indicates it was a three-man security team that was attacked," he said.
Witnesses at the scene of the attack in Yusufiyah told the Associated Press they saw two soldiers being directed into vehicles by several masked gunmen.
Caldwell said American security personnel were studying the various kidnapping techniques used by Iraqi insurgents. He said the U.S. military was "very much aware of the atrocities they commit." "It pains us to realize what fellow service members go through and other American citizens" at the hands of the insurgents, Caldwell said.
In Brownsville, Tex. this morning, Menchaca's mother said an Army sergeant visited her home shortly after 6 a.m. and told her there would be news about her son's fate soon. Maria Guadalupe Vasquez said she then called her daughter-in-law's house in Big Spring, Tex., and was told by a relative there that military officials were at the house, notifying the young woman that her husband was dead. A spokesperson for Tucker's family in Madras, Ore. referred reporters to the Oregon National Guard. Guard spokeswoman Kay Fristad said her unit was notified at 1:14 a.m. Pacific time that two soldiers' bodies had been found, and were being shipped to Dover Air Force Base to be identified through DNA testing. More than 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops had searched for Menchaca and Tucker -- clearing 12 villages, killing three insurgents and detaining 34 others, Caldwell said.