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Mar 12, 2008 9:44 pm US/Central
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Severed Fingers Of Hostages Sent To U.S. In Iraq
(WCCO)
U.S. officials say authorities in Iraq received five severed fingers belonging to four Americans and an Austrian who were taken hostage more than a year ago, according to newspaper reports.
McClatchy Newspapers said the FBI is investigating and the families of the five kidnapped contractors have been notified, including the family of Paul Reuben, a former St. Louis Park, Minn., police officer.
The paper reports that the fingers belonged to Reuben, Jonathon Cote, of Gainesville, Fla.; Joshua Munns, of Redding, Calif.; Bert Nussbaumer of Vienna, Austria; and Ronald J. Withrow, an American who was kidnapped separately from the others.
According to McClatchy Newspapers, no information was available on when or how the fingers were delivered to U.S. authorities.
The first four Americans and an Austrian colleague employed by Kuwait-based Crescent Security Group were among 14 people kidnapped Nov. 16, 2006, by men in Iraqi police uniforms who ambushed a 43-truck supply convoy they were escorting near the southern Iraqi border city of Safwan.
Patrick Reuben, Paul's brother, confirmed that he has learned that authorities received fingers of the missing contractors. He said the family has known about this for about a month, and that certain family members were informed by the FBI.
The Austrian weekly magazine News first reported the delivery of the five fingers in Wednesday's edition, citing unnamed authorities working on the case, according to McClatchy Newspapers.
The paper said Austrian officials held a news conference in Vienna and said that U.S. officials had provided information about "fingerprints and DNA traces that were positively matched to Nussbaumer," the Austrian hostage. They didn't confirm that the sample was a severed finger.
Mark Koscielski, a Minnesota man who is in close contact with the families of the hostages and maintains a Web site, www.Save5.net, confirmed the discovery. He said he looks at the severed fingers as a positive sign and that's it's a proof of life.
Koscielski says it's a common practice and may indicate that the kidnappers are willing to make a deal.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)