Thursday, 4:30 PM
Lawrence relatives cling to hope after captured soldier's ID card is found
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
Military officials announced today that the identification cards of two captured soldiers, including that of 25-year-old Army Specialist Alex R. Jimenez of Lawrence, were discovered this week in an empty house 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The cards of Jimenez and Private Byron Fouty, of Waterford, Mich., were discovered along with computers, video production equipment, rifles and ammunition at the otherwise empty house near Samarra.
Friends and family members in Lawrence, who have been holding vigil since they were captured May 12, clung to the ID card as a sign of life, and pointed to the find as evidence that the military’s search still continues.
“It’s a step closer to finding some closure in this story,” said Francisco Urena, a veterans’ agent in Lawrence who has been acting as a spokesman for the Jimenez family. “The family is extremely hopeful. The father says he still has a feeling that his son will be found. And until we find otherwise, Alex Jimenez is still alive.”
