Severed fingers came from hostages

U.S. authorities have received five severed fingers, four of which belong to private security contractors missing since they were abducted in Iraq nearly 16 months ago, according to law enforcement sources close to the investigation.

The fingers were delivered last month to U.S. authorities in Iraq but were not accompanied by a ransom demand or other information, sources said. Fingerprint and DNA analysis determined that they were removed from four of five guards taken hostage during an ambush near the Kuwaiti border Nov. 16, 2006.

The missing guards, four Americans and an Austrian, worked for Kuwaiti-based Crescent Security Group. The fifth severed finger was taken from an American contractor seized separately but reportedly held with the other missing men, the sources said.

U.S. authorities have been unable to determine whether the fingers were removed while the men were alive, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

The four Crescent contractors whose fingers have been identified are: Jonathon Cote, 25, of Getzville, N.Y.; Paul Reuben, 41, of Buffalo, Minn.; Joshua Munns, 24, of Redding, Calif.; and Bert Nussbaumer, 26, of Vienna. The fifth finger belonged to Ronald J. Withrow, 40, of Lubbock, Texas, a contractor for JPI Worldwide.

John Young, 45, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., is also missing.

The FBI was informing some of the men’s relatives as late as Wednesday that it had no information on the fingers.