Body of Torrance soldier is found

The body of Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr. of Torrance was found Wednesday floating down the Euphrates River 12 miles south of the site where he and two other soldiers were captured by insurgents nearly two weeks ago, the U.S. military confirmed this morning.

The soldiers have been the subject of a massive search by thousands of troops since a May 12 ambush that also killed four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter.

“The family received notification last night” that the 20-year-old gunner was dead, said Army Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Iraq.

In Baghdad, the U.S. military also reported that nine soldiers and Marines were killed Monday and Tuesday in five separate roadside bombings and shooting attacks across Iraq. The deaths raised the number of American soldiers killed to 3,431, according to icasualties.org, a website that tracks military casualties.

An Iraqi officer at the site where Anzack’s body was found said police had received reports that there were two other bodies in the river, also clad in U.S. military uniforms. But the officer said a witness reported that the bodies had become submerged, and an American search team had not found them. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information.

A U.S. military spokesman played down the report, and Aberle said this morning that reports of another body were incorrect.

Anzack appeared to have been dead for several days, and had suffered about half a dozen gunshot wounds to his face, skull and neck, making it difficult to identify him, the Iraqi officer said.

His arms and chest appeared to have suffered blows, he said.

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Found near marketplace

The body was discovered about 11 a.m. by shoppers near a marketplace in Musayyib, a small town surrounded by fruit orchards and date palms less than 40 miles south of Baghdad.

Two police officers and a civilian swam into the river to recover the corpse. When they returned to shore, they recognized the American uniform and summoned U.S. forces.

Listed as missing with Anzack were Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.

Thousands of U.S. forces have conducted searches centered around Yousifiya, a market town of about 5,000 people southwest of Baghdad.

More than 900 residents have been detained, and an American soldier was killed when a bomb exploded during the search.

“We continue to remain prayerful and hopeful,” Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV said earlier in the day. “The search continues right now.”

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Grief in Torrance

But in Torrance on Wednesday evening, where friends and relatives gathered at the modest, second-story apartment of the local soldier’s father, Joseph Anzack Sr., the anxious waiting for news was over.

A witness said a military officer wearing a beret entered the home about 5 p.m. and stayed for about an hour. Another man, believed to be a chaplain, arrived a short time later and also stayed in the apartment about an hour. A small group of Torrance police officers also came to the apartment complex, protecting the family’s privacy.

The soldier’s aunt, Debbie Anzack, said she was in the apartment when the military officer told the family that the dead serviceman “was Joe.” Fighting back tears, she said, “It’s unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”

She said the officer reported that the identification was made, apparently by a commanding officer in Iraq, even though the military was still awaiting DNA results.

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Rumors about death

The word of Anzack’s death follows the circulation of rumors that he had died a month ago, before the soldier’s capture. Friends from South High School in Torrance even left condolence messages on his MySpace.com Web page. But those rumors were refuted after the soldier’s father contacted the Red Cross, and military officials arranged for the Army gunner to call his father to let him know he was well.

Debbie Anzack said her brother, the soldier’s father, would provide a statement regarding his son’s death this morning. “Right now, he is devastated,” she said of her brother. “He doesn’t want to cry on television.”

Meanwhile, 20 Iraqis were killed when a man detonated an explosives-packed vest in a tea house and restaurant in downtown Mandali, a town of Shiite Kurds in northeastern Iraq.

Just south of Baghdad’s Green Zone, five carloads of gunmen stormed a marketplace, killing five civilians. American and Iraqi forces engaged in a gunfight with the attackers for more than an hour as a curfew shut down much of the downtown area.

In the Karada district of the city, two mortar rounds killed five civilians and injured 14 others.

In north Baghdad, three well-known wrestlers who worked as police officers were intercepted as they drove home from an athletic club. They were found dead hours later.

Police reported finding 30 unidentified bodies in Baghdad, and five more in Ramadi, 60 miles west.

One of those found dead was a young woman who worked for the Iraqi Cabinet. The woman’s body, found in the Dora district of the capital, showed signs of rape and torture, including a gash that opened her abdomen.

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Military operations

In the last week, the military has conducted 48 operations focusing on Al Qaeda in Iraq, killing 19 suspects and detaining 88 others, Caldwell said.

In Karmah, a small town nine miles from Fallouja, two of the organization’s hide-outs were discovered and 17 kidnapping victims were freed, including a 13-year-old boy who had been tortured with electrical wires attached to his tongue, Caldwell said.

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garrett.therolf@latimes.com

Therolf reported from Baghdad and Sahagun from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Ned Parker and special correspondents in Baghdad and in Diyala and Babil provinces, and Times staff writer Stuart Silverstein in Los Angeles, contributed to this report.