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There seems to be alot more attention from the press to those still missing in Iraq since the kidnapping and later discovery of the bodies of U.S. Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker. Details in the article on what happened to the two men are really gruesome. I've decided not to recount those details here.

Military releases new details about killing, recovery of kidnapped soldiers
From the Associated Press, USA Today, June 27, 2006

In a statement that provided additional details of the killings, the military said the bodies of U.S. Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras were found at 7:50 p.m. on June 19 not far from where they were abducted when insurgents attacked their checkpoint.

The military said it waited until the next morning to recover the bodies because an Iraqi in the area had warned that the area was booby-trapped.

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Kirk von Ackermann is listed with Timothy Bell, Aban Elias, Sadeq Mohammed Sadeq, and Jeffrey Ake in a side bar to the above article titled Americans Still Missing.

Kirk von Ackermann, 37, contractor from Moss Beach, Calif., disappeared Oct. 9, 2003, while driving alone between Tikrit and Kirkuk; kidnapping suspected.

Earlier articles on the fate of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker also included the same side bar.

Military: Missing soldiers found dead
By Cesar G. Soriano, USA Today, June 20, 2006

Soldiers' bodies recovered
by Kim Gamel, AP, June 21, 2006

Rules usually protect GIs from capture
by Ryan Lenz, AP, June 21, 2006

13 Americans Still Missing

Brief mention today of Kirk von Ackermann in two articles from the Associated Press on Americans missing in Iraq.

13 Americans still listed as missing
AP, June 20, 2006

American military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Tuesday that there were still 13 Americans missing in Iraq — two soldiers and 11 civilians.

He identified the two soldiers as Sgt. Matt Maupin, missing since April 2004, and Capt. Michael Speicher, a Navy pilot missing since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

"There are also 11 American citizens that today are still listed as missing in action," he said without identifying them. "Either DOD contractors, civilian contractors or others, but American citizens that have been reported as missing over the last three years."

An Associated Press tally shows the following five U.S. civilians still missing:

• Kirk von Ackermann, 37: Contractor from Moss Beach, Calif., disappeared Oct. 9, 2003, while driving alone between Tikrit and Kirkuk; kidnapping suspected.

• Timothy Bell, 44: Contractor for Halliburton subsidiary KBR, of Mobile, Ala., disappeared April 9, 2004, after a fuel convoy attack.

• Aban Elias, 41: Iraqi-American engineer from Denver, was seized by the Islamic Rage Brigade on May 3, 2004.

• Sadeq Mohammed Sadeq: Lebanese-American who formerly worked for Virginia-based contractor SkyLink USA, was kidnapped from his home in Baghdad on Nov. 2, 2004.

• Jeffrey Ake, 47: Contract worker from LaPorte, Ind., was abducted April 11, 2005, while working at a water treatment plant near Baghdad.

A second article, also from the AP, includes similar information.

American soldiers and civilians kidnapped or missing in Iraq
AP, June 21, 2006