Insurgents: Missing Lawrence Soldier Is Dead

The Associated Press is reporting that the Al-Qaida-linked insurgents who captured three U.S. soldiers in Iraq last month released a video that says that the men - including Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25 and of Lawrence - have been killed.

"The Americans sent 4,000 soldiers looking for them," a voice on the video says, according to the AP. "They were alive and then dead."

According to reports, the video includes footage of insurgents planning the ambush, choppy battle scenes, and close-up shots of soldier identification cards - including that belonging to Jimenez. It does not show the soldiers, nor does it show any evidence of the soldiers' deaths.

Jimenez's mother, Maria Duran, told CNN that the Pentagon has yet to contact her family.

Jimenez was in a patrol group ambushed on May 12. Part of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, out of Fort Drum, N.Y., the missing soldier has been the focus of vigils and hopeful thoughts back home. Family and friends told the Globe last month that he was a calm, caring, friendly young man who wanted to make a career out of serving in the Army.

***UPDATE*** Francisco Urena, local veterans' affairs director in Lawrence, said today that the claims made in the video are "not credible." He asked that people keep hope.***