Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
March 28, 2008
Pg. 14
By David Stout
WASHINGTON — Two bodies found in Iraq have been identified as those of American contractors kidnapped more than a year ago, the F.B.I. said Thursday. The results of tests to identify a third body are not yet available, the bureau said.
The identifications of Paul Reuben of Minneapolis and Joshua Munns of Redding, Calif., and two others announced this week end the uncertainty over the fates of four of six contractors kidnapped in Iraq in late 2006 and early 2007. Severed fingers of five of them were sent to American military authorities in Iraq recently.
Relatives of the missing men had expressed hope that the fingers were signs that the men were still alive. But on Monday, the F.B.I. said that the bodies of two kidnapped contractors, Ronald J. Withrow of Roaring Springs, Tex., and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo., had been found and identified.
Mr. Reuben, Mr. Munns and Mr. Young were kidnapped along with two other men, all employees of Crescent Security Group, on Nov. 16, 2006, by men in Iraqi police uniforms. Mr. Withrow was employed by an information technology company and was abducted on Jan. 5, 2007.
“The investigation is ongoing, and the F.B.I., working with our partners in the Hostage Working Group in Iraq, will continue to aggressively investigate every available lead in order to identify, apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for these horrific criminal acts,” said Richard Kolko, a supervisory special agent for the F.B.I. in Washington. The working group was established by the United States Embassy in Baghdad in 2004 to handle the cases of American civilians missing in Iraq.
Jonathon Cote, 25, of the Buffalo suburb of Getzville was another Crescent employee kidnapped on Nov. 16, 2006. His father, Francis Cote, told The Buffalo News on Wednesday that the government had told him that the remains still being tested were not those of his son. “So we still hope and pray for the possibility that Jon is alive,” Mr. Cote said.
The severed fingers were identified as belonging to Mr. Cote, Mr. Munns, Mr. Withrow, Mr. Reuben and an Austrian employee of Crescent, Bert Nussbaumer.
March 28, 2008
Pg. 14
By David Stout
WASHINGTON — Two bodies found in Iraq have been identified as those of American contractors kidnapped more than a year ago, the F.B.I. said Thursday. The results of tests to identify a third body are not yet available, the bureau said.
The identifications of Paul Reuben of Minneapolis and Joshua Munns of Redding, Calif., and two others announced this week end the uncertainty over the fates of four of six contractors kidnapped in Iraq in late 2006 and early 2007. Severed fingers of five of them were sent to American military authorities in Iraq recently.
Relatives of the missing men had expressed hope that the fingers were signs that the men were still alive. But on Monday, the F.B.I. said that the bodies of two kidnapped contractors, Ronald J. Withrow of Roaring Springs, Tex., and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo., had been found and identified.
Mr. Reuben, Mr. Munns and Mr. Young were kidnapped along with two other men, all employees of Crescent Security Group, on Nov. 16, 2006, by men in Iraqi police uniforms. Mr. Withrow was employed by an information technology company and was abducted on Jan. 5, 2007.
“The investigation is ongoing, and the F.B.I., working with our partners in the Hostage Working Group in Iraq, will continue to aggressively investigate every available lead in order to identify, apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for these horrific criminal acts,” said Richard Kolko, a supervisory special agent for the F.B.I. in Washington. The working group was established by the United States Embassy in Baghdad in 2004 to handle the cases of American civilians missing in Iraq.
Jonathon Cote, 25, of the Buffalo suburb of Getzville was another Crescent employee kidnapped on Nov. 16, 2006. His father, Francis Cote, told The Buffalo News on Wednesday that the government had told him that the remains still being tested were not those of his son. “So we still hope and pray for the possibility that Jon is alive,” Mr. Cote said.
The severed fingers were identified as belonging to Mr. Cote, Mr. Munns, Mr. Withrow, Mr. Reuben and an Austrian employee of Crescent, Bert Nussbaumer.