Search For The Soldiers
A $200,000 reward was offered for information on the whereabouts of the soldiers, all of whom belonged to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division based in northern New York. On May 17, Iraqi Army forces detained 16 people described as "suspects" in the incident.
On May 19 U.S. forces stormed a facility in Al-A'amiriya and detained nine occupants, on a tip that they were related to the capture. It was announced that afternoon that one of the three soldiers was believed killed a few days after capture, while the other two remained prisoners. The same day, a search party for the missing soldiers came under attack, leaving one American soldier dead and four more wounded.
According to an Iraqi intelligence officer, two prisoners confessed to taking part in the attack, saying that a group of thirteen insurgents had attacked the outpost, and split into two group afterwards, with the ringleader taking the captured American soldiers with him. The Iraqi Army arrested more than 250 people suspected of ties to the attack.
On May 20, American forces drained a canal along the Euphrates after local villagers reported seeing body parts floating, but had no success. On May 21, another 14 people were arrested within a 9-mile radius of the original site of the kidnapping. Four others were detained by Apache Company 1st Battalion 501st Infantry Regiment and then released, in Jurf al-Sakhr.
On May 23, military officials informed the family of Joseph Anzack that a commanding officer had visually identified his body as being one pulled from the Euphrates River by Iraqi patrol boats, although DNA tests were still pending. The body had two bullet holes in the head and one in the chest.
On June 4, the Islamic State of Iraq declared in a video posted on the Internet than Fouty and Jimenez were killed because the U.S refused to stop searching for them. They also claimed that they would not give the bodies of the two soldiers to their families and that the two men were buried.
On January 8, 2008, Jimenez was promoted to Sergeant. (Soldiers who are missing in action are considered in service until known otherwise, and are promoted depending on their level of education and training in the armed forces.)
Read more about this topic: May 2007 Abduction Of US Soldiers In Iraq
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