Iraqi civilians, militants, journalists, and U.S. soldiers are by no means the only ones dying as a result of the war in Iraq.

WASHINGTON — Two American contractors kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago have been found dead, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Monday, only days after the severed finger of one of the men was sent to American military authorities.

The F.B.I. said that the remains of Ronald J. Withrow of Roaring Springs, Tex., and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo., had been found, and that relatives of the victims had been notified. The bureau did not say when and where the bodies were found, or anything about their condition.

Mr. Withrow was one of five kidnapping victims whose fingers were sent recently to the military in Iraq. The fingers of three other Americans — Mr. Young not among them — and an Austrian were also received. DNA analysis confirmed that the fingers were from the missing men.

Source: nytimes.com