Yahoo News -- DETROIT - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq for more than a year have been found, their families said Thursday night. The military would not immediately confirm the report.

The father of Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez, of Lawrence, Mass., said the remains of his son and another soldier, Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, of Waterford, Mich., had been identified in Iraq.

Jimenez, 25, and Fouty, 19, were kidnapped along with a third member of the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division during an ambush in May 2007 in the volatile area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death." The body of the third seized soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. of Torrance, Calif., was found in the Euphrates River a year later.

Jimenez's father, Ramon "Andy" Jimenez, said uniformed military officials came to his home in Lawrence on Thursday to tell him that his son's body and some of his son's personal effects had been discovered. Fouty's stepfather, Gordon Dibler, said military officials came to his Oxford home to break the news.

The Pentagon generally waits 24 hours after notifying the next of kin before making a release public.

Andy Jimenez told The Associated Press through a translator that the news "shattered all hope" the family had to "see Alex walk home on his own."

"Every day that he's been missing has been a day of `what could have been' ... but after hearing the news today ... I'm still in shock," Dibler said.

He said he spent much of Thursday on the phone talking with family and friends, including Andy Jimenez. The soldiers' families had become friends over the past year, and Dibler said he always considered the two missing soldiers "our nation's sons."

"Byron went to Iraq to help people who couldn't help themselves," he said, adding that conditions there have since improved. "I know their sacrifice was not for nothing. It was not in vain."

Lawrence Veterans Services Director Francisco Urena, who was at the Jimenez home Thursday and translated for the soldier's father, said the family was given no details on the discovery of the bodies or the nature of the soldiers' deaths. Dibler said Fouty's body was found in the Iraqi village of Jurf as Sakhr.

Fouty was identified using dental records, Dibler said, adding that the bodies of both soldiers were taken to Dover, Del., where military officials are expected to perform further tests to positively identify both men and determine a cause of death.

"It's a very sad relief," he said. "But I know I have to go forward, not just for our family, but for the other men and women who are still doing their job over there."

Urena said the Jimenez family expected to receive Alex Jimenez's body in five days.

"He's very thankful for everybody from the community in Lawrence and throughout the U.S. who have provided him support during the difficult time the family has been through during the past 14 months," Urena said of Andy Jimenez.

Massachusetts state Rep. William Lantigua of Lawrence, who also was with Jimenez on Thursday evening, said the family had held out hope for a happy ending.

"That does not take away from the fact that he was doing what he wanted to do," Lantigua said of Alex Jimenez. "We'll just remember his life, and what a gentleman he was. The community will continue to support his family any way we can."

The three soldiers, from the Fort Drum, N.Y.-based 10th Mountain Division, disappeared May 12, 2007, after insurgents ambushed their combat team 20 miles outside Baghdad. An Iraqi soldier and four other Americans from the same unit were killed in the attack.

The soldiers were from Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment — nicknamed the "Polar Bears."

Jim Waring of the family support group New England Care for Our Military said he spoke to Jimenez' and Fouty's families Thursday night.

"It's going to be tough on them," he said. "They really had hoped they were alive."

Waring said his group had a banner for the missing soldiers: "Together they serve our nation and together they will come home."

"They did come home together, just not the way we wanted," Waring said. Detnews.com -- Loved ones of a Waterford Township man who may be among the soldiers missing following a deadly ambush in Iraq on Saturday are anxiously awaiting news of his fate.

Because she considers Army Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, "like family," Cathy Conger of Walled Lake says the 19-year-old's absence looms.

"He doesn't deserve this," said Conger, 49, whose son is a close friend and invited Fouty to live with them for more than a year in 2005. "I'm just really devastated. It hurts so much.

"I pray to God that he makes it out safely."

On his last MySpace entry, dated April 12, Fouty called his time in Iraq "a messed up year," mourned his grandmother's death from cancer in 2005, and lamented a comrade's suicide. "This year has been coated with nothing but bad news, very little good news shining through," he wrote, listing his current mood as "aggravated."

He then mentioned anticipating a break for the holidays. But this, he wrote, was hindered by a sobering development: "Now I find we're extended until November. Joy."

Friends on his page offered reassuring words and pleaded for his safety.

A message left Sunday from "Sarah & Isaac [WE MISS YOU BYRON]" read: "i have soo many people prayin for you over here and everyones looking for you. we love you so so much"

Fouty lived with Conger for about 14 months before leaving for the service last summer.

Conger said the teen had had a troubled home life and his dad kicked him out, which is why he came to live with her and her son, Bryan, a friend for nearly a decade.

Fouty attended Walled Lake Central High School, where he played football and performed in plays, Conger said.

He left last year after learning he wasn't going to graduate on time, she said, and later earned a GED.

After Fouty joined the military, his father moved to Mississippi and his mother to Texas. To celebrate Christmas after completing boot camp, he returned to Conger's home in his uniform.

"He looked so much more mature," Conger said.

By that time, Fouty knew he would be deployed to Iraq.

"He was grown up about it and wasn't scared at all," Conger said. "He said he was ready for it."

Department of Defense -- The Department of Defense has changed the status of two soldiers serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom from duty status whereabouts unknown (DUSTWUN) to missing-captured.

Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., were declared missing-captured June 27.

On May 12, Fouty and Jimenez were categorized as DUSTWUN when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces. They are assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.

Efforts continue for their successful and safe return. For more information in regard to the ongoing search and recovery operations please contact the Coalition Press Information Center-Baghdad at (703) 270-0299 or (703) 270-0320.