July 11th, 2008
Discovery of soldiers’ bodies confirms San Marcos mom’s grim fear

The discovery of U.S. Army Pvt. Byron Fouty’s body in Iraq extinguishes what hope San Marcos resident Helen Meunier managed to hold that her son might be found alive.—

Dental records were used to confirm that human remains discovered in an Iraqi village called Jurf as Sakhr belonged to Fouty, 19, and Sgt. Alex Jimenez, 25, who were captured in May 2007 while on patrol in Al Taqa, in a hostile region south of Baghdad. The body of a third solider missing in the ambush was discovered in the Euphrates River not long after the attack.

The Associated Press reported the discoveries this morning after military officials notified Fouty’s and Jiminez’s families, who told reporters their son’s bodies and a handful of personal effects were found. Fouty was raised in Waterford, Mich., but his mother and stepfather moved to San Marcos in late 2006 after Fouty enlisted.

The soldiers were assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, typically headquartered at Fort Drum, N.Y.

— BRAD ROLLINS

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