14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-Killer Of Three 101st Soldiers Dead

Killer Of Three 101st Soldiers Dead

New Media Producer: Kerry Corum

UPDATE, TUE, 2:00 PM: It's been determined that it was a Jordanian who killed two Fort Campbell soldiers last month and now the gunman is dead the result of a clash with security forces.

Diyar Ismail Mahmoud was identified as the killer of the two members of the 101st Airborne whose mutilated bodies were found after their capture southwest of Baghdad.

A third American was also killed.

The discovery of the bodies of Private First Class Kristian Menchaca of Houston and Private First Class Thomas Tucker of Madras, Oregon came after exhaustive searches with thousands of soldiers fanning out in an area south of Baghdad.

UPDATE, TUE, 7:30 AM: More details are emerging about the deaths of two 101st Airborne soldiers, abducted and killed earlier this month in Iraq.

The US military says explosives experts had to dismantle three roadside bombs to reach the brutalized bodies of Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker when they were found last week.

Their remains were found tied together with a bomb between one of the soldiers' legs.

The bodies were found not far from where they'd been abducted when militants attacked their checkpoint south of Baghdad.

A third soldier died in the attack.

A military statement says the two bodies had been severely traumatized. A military official last week had said that one and possibly both men had been tortured and beheaded.

Their remains were returned to their homes Monday for burial.

UPDATE, THU, 12:51 PM: They were hoping the DNA tests would prove otherwise. But for the family of Kristian Menchaca, it wasn't to be.

His aunt says the military is confirming one of the two brutalized bodies found in Iraq is that of the missing Army private.

Menchaca and fellow Private Thomas Tucker vanished after an insurgent attack last week at a checkpoint south of Baghdad.

Two bodies later turned up and were taken to Dover Air Force Base for DNA testing.

It's a final blow to relatives, friends and neighbors in Brownsville, Texas, who decorated the yard of Menchaca's mother's home with yellow ribbons and American flags.

A cousin says they've been told the body of the 23-year-old newlywed will be back home within a few days.

A National Guard spokeswoman for the Tucker family was not immediately available to say whether they had been notified.

UPDATE, WED, 2:45 PM: A defense official in Washington says militants beheaded at least one and maybe both of the soldiers who vanished in Iraq Friday.

The description confirms fears raised by US and Iraqi officials, who said the bodies were mutilated. A final report on the bodies hasn't been released formally.

A posting on a militant Web site Tuesday said al-Qaida-in-Iraq's new leader "slaughtered" the soldiers. The language in the statement suggested beheading.

The remains are due at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Wednesday, for DNA testing to confirm the identities.

The bodies are believed to be those of Privates First Class Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker.

A military official says it took about 12 hours to recover the bodies because there were so many booby traps.

UPDATE, WED, 6:00 AM: Grief and outrage from the families of two US soldiers said to have been tortured and killed following their capture in Iraq.

Two bodies recovered in Iraq are thought to be those of the two missing soldiers.

In a statement released to reporters, Maria Vasquez, the mother of Private First Class Kristian Menchaca, says she is against the war and feels "very hurt by what has happened to my son."

The principal of Vela Middle School, which Menchaca attended in Brownsville, told students that "one of our nation's bravest men walked the halls of Vela.''

In Madras, Oregon, the family of Private First Class Thomas Tucker is in seclusion.

In a statement released Tuesday, family members said they are grief-stricken, but also heartened by the support they have seen in their tight-knit community.

UPDATE, TUE, 2:30 PM: The US military says it's killed a man it describes as a top aide to former al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Major General William Caldwell says the man known as Sheik Mansour and two foreign militants were killed in an airstrike on Friday.

The hit came in the same area where an attack, hours later, killed an American and left two others missing.

The bodies of those two soldiers have apparently been recovered.

Caldwell says Mansour was a key religious and recruiting figure in the militant group. The spokesman says the Iraqi militant was tied to top leaders, including al-Zarqaqi and his replacement.

Caldwell says Mansour was also responsible for shooting down a coalition aircraft this spring.

UPDATE, TUE, 2:00 PM: The US command says remains believed to be two missing soldiers were found last night, but US forces had to wait for daylight to check for booby-traps.

Major General William Caldwell says thousands of troops encountered a lot of roadside bombs and other explosives during their three-day search for the men who disappeared after a comrade was killed Friday.

When the bodies were located, Caldwell says a "fairly large group of soldiers" guarded the area until the ordnance team could arrive. And he says "they did have to dismantle some stuff to get to them."

An Internet statement claims the soldiers were killed by the new leader of al-Qaida-in-Iraq. The military is conducting DNA tests to confirm their identities.

UPDATE, TUE, 10:15 AM: An Internet claim says the new leader of al-Qaida-in-Iraq personally "slaughtered" two American soldiers.

The exact wording suggests the men were beheaded.

The claim's authenticity could not be confirmed. If true, it's the first act of violence attributed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's successor.

The claim could also be an effort to bolster the image of Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, who was tapped to lead insurgents after al-Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike.

Al-Zarqawi was called the "slaughtering sheik" for the photos and videos of brutal slayings that circulated on the Internet and in media reports.

Major General William Caldwell says the military thinks it's found the remains of the two missing soldiers that were based with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.

An Iraqi military official said it looked as if the victims were tortured and killed in a barbaric way.

UPDATE, TUE, 6:00 AM: There's no confirmation from the Americans, but a senior Iraqi military official says the bodies of two missing US soldiers have been found near where they disappeared Friday.

The Iraqi official says the bodies were found on a street near the town where the men disappeared, near a power plant just south of Baghdad.

Private Kristian Menchaca of Houston, Texas, and Private Thomas Tucker, of Madras, Oregon, vanished at a traffic checkpoint after an attack that killed another soldier about 12 miles south of Baghdad.

The Sunni region is the site of frequent ambushes of US soldiers and Iraqi troops.

A US military spokesman says troops searching for the soldiers killed three suspected insurgents and detained 34 in fighting that also left seven US servicemen wounded.

A farmer claiming to have witnessed the attack said Sunday that insurgents swarmed the scene, killing the driver of a Humvee before taking two of his comrades captive.

His account could not be verified independently.

UPDATE, MON, 1:00 PM: As the US military steps up its search for two missing soldiers, an Iraqi militant group is putting out a taunting message.

Posted on an Islamic Web site, the statement says flat out that they're holding the pair, who vanished last Friday.

It doesn't identify the soldiers, nor is there a video, something that's accompanied kidnapping claims in the past.

Still, the statement appears on an Internet site often used by groups linked to al-Qaida.

And taking a jab at US forces, the posting says the US failure to find the troops proves what it calls "the weakness of the alleged American intelligence.''

For its part, the US says 8000 American and Iraqi troops are taking part in the search, using everything from fighter jets, choppers and boats, to unmanned drones.

UPDATE, MON, 8:05 AM: An umbrella militant group in Iraq says it kidnapped two US soldiers south of Baghdad.

A statement posted on an Islamic Web site says "your brothers in the military wing" captured the men, although it doesn't mention their names.

The Defense Department says the men disappeared Friday after an attack on their checkpoint that killed another soldier.

The umbrella group includes al-Qaida-in-Iraq.

The statement has not been confirmed, although the Web site is often used by al-Qaida-linked groups.

US officials say they're still trying to confirm that the men have been kidnapped.

UPDATE, MON, 7:55 AM: A Web statement signed by an Iraqi militant group says it kidnapped two US soldiers south of Baghdad.

The statement on an Islamic Web site says "brothers in the military wing" of the rebel group seized the two Americans who vanished after a firefight Friday.

US military officials say they've been searching by air, land and water for the missing men.

UPDATE, MON, 7:00 AM: The military says seven American troops have been wounded during an intensive search for two missing members of the 101st Airborne Division.

Major General William Caldwell says fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and dive teams have been deployed to find the two men.

They went missing on Friday during an attack on their checkpoint in an area south of Baghdad.

One soldier was killed in that attack.

Caldwell did not comment on reports that the two men had been seized by insurgents.

The missing men were identified as 23-year-old Private First Class Kristian Menchaca, of Houston, and Private First Class Thomas Tucker, a 25-year-old from Madras, Oregon.

Caldwell says more than 8000 US and Iraqi troops are participating in the search.

Previously: There is concern that two soldiers from the 101st Airborne have been taken hostage in Iraq.

Privates Kristian Menchaca, age 23 from Houston, and Thomas Tucker, age 25 from Madras, Oregon, were last seen Friday.

Checkpoints around Baghdad went up almost immediately after the soldiers went missing.

They were manning a checkpoint 15 miles southwest of the city, a volatile area, when an Iraqi farmer said US troops came under attack.

One was killed.

Witnesses say two others, both based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, were led away by masked gunmen.

US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell says, "Make no mistake, we never stop looking for our service members until their status is definitively determined, and we continue to pray for their safe return."

The broader war picture again dominates debate this week on Capitol Hill.

Senate Democrats plan to propose a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq, with supporters calling the current deployment unsustainable.

A Senate proposal last week to pull troops from Iraq by year's end was set aside.

House lawmakers also rejected setting a date for withdrawal, a majority siding with the White House against a timetable.

In the meantime, US troops are said to be searching houses and offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the missing soldiers' return.

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