Remains of 2 U.S. men found

U.S. authorities recovered the remains of two kidnapped American contractors missing for more than a year in Iraq, the FBI said Monday.

The dead were identified as Ronald J. Withrow, 40, of Roaring Springs, Texas, and John Roy Young, 45, of Kansas City, Mo.

Withrow, a computer specialist employed by JPI Worldwide, a Las Vegas-based technology services firm, was abducted in January 2007 near the southern city of Basra.

His severed finger -- and those of four other kidnapping victims -- was delivered to the U.S. military in Baghdad this month. The episode triggered hope among some of his family members that he might still be alive.

Young, a former soldier in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and a member of the Army Reserve, worked as a guard for Crescent Security Group. He was kidnapped in November 2006 when men in Iraqi police uniforms ambushed his convoy near the Kuwaiti border.

The fingers of four men with whom he was abducted were delivered to the military this month; those men, including one from Redding, Calif., remain unaccounted for.

After their capture, Young and the other Crescent contractors appeared in two hostage videos in which they asked the U.S. government to remove troops from Iraq. In the videos, they appeared to be in good condition, and they said they had been treated well.

Withrow and Young were among about a dozen American contractors missing in Iraq. Since 2003, about 1,100 contractors have died, including several hundred Americans.

Private security firms operating in the country have been reducing their reliance on American personnel, partly out of safety concerns. But they say the level of violence recently has declined somewhat with the redoubled American military presence.

News of the grim discoveries Monday came as President Bush acknowledged that the U.S. military death toll in the five-year war had reached 4,000. He expressed sympathy and resolve that the losses would not be in vain.

Young’s family scheduled a news conference for today. Withrow’s family could not be reached for comment. The families have been communicating in part through a website dedicated to the men: Save5.net.

Some have expressed frustration at being left out of the loop by investigators. In a statement, the FBI said there was an “open investigation” into the deaths and that it would continue to aggressively pursue those responsible. The statement did not specify when or where the bodies were found or how the men died.

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rick.schmitt@latimes.com