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Lawrence Soldier Missing in Iraq

A Massachusetts soldier is believed to be one of those held hostage in Iraq after a weekend ambush south of Baghdad.

25-year-old specialist Alex Jimenez of Lawrence is listed among those missing after the attack, in which four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator were killed.

An al-Qaida front group has taken responsibility for the ambush and claims to have captured the missing soldiers. Their status and location remains unknown.

Rep. William Lantigua of Lawrence was standing outside the home of Alex Jimenez's father in Lawrence today, urging the media to leave Jimenez's friends and family alone.

"Alex is not a celebrity," Lantigua said. "He's just one of hundreds of thousands in the armed forces, and we don't want him to be portrayed as a celebrity."

Lantigua told reporters that U.S. officials had confirmed that a corpse left behind by the attackers was not Jimenez. Earlier in the day, news reports indicated that the Pentagon had still not identified the fourth dead soldier.

According to Lantigua, Jimenez had been in the army for four years and planned to re-enlist, despite his father's opposition to the war.

Jimenez's father was unavailable for comment. Lantigua said Ramon Jimenez had traveled to New York Tuesday night to wait for news of his son, who had been stationed at Fort Drum.

This program aired on May 16, 2007. The audio for this program is not available.

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