The remains of two American security contractors who were kidnapped more than a year ago have been found in Iraq, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday.
The remains were identified as Ronald Withrow, who worked for JPI Worldwide when he was kidnapped on January 5, 2007, and John Roy Young, who worked for Crescent Security Group when he was kidnapped on November 16, 2006.
"This is an open investigation, and the FBI, working with its 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 this heinous criminal act," the FBI said in a statement.
It did not say where or how the remains were found.
Withrow was a technical assistance specialist in natural disaster and conflict zones for the Las Vegas, Nevada-based JPI Worldwide.
Young had been part of a group of five Westerners kidnapped by men in police uniforms in the town of Safwan, near the city of Basra about 340 miles (550 kilometers) from Baghdad, as they escorted a Kuwait Red Crescent convoy.
The five men, four Americans and an Austrian, appeared to be in good health in January 2007 on a video in which responsibility for their kidnapping was claimed by the "National Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Al Forkhan Brigade."
The hostages were shown seated cross-legged in front of a black sheet, and speaking one after another to the camera, with one of them explaining that their captors demanded the freedom of all prisoners held by US and British forces in Iraq.
The Austrian government has not heard news of the Austrian hostage, Bert Nussbaumer, for more than a year.
