By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Suspects have been detained in the case of a U.S. Army translator who went missing in Baghdad, the military said Wednesday.
Military spokesman Lt Col. Jonathan Withington said troops have detained some suspects who "could possibly be involved." No further information was provided.
The search for the soldier, who was reportedly abducted by gunmen while visiting relatives in Baghdad Monday, was continuing, a spokesperson said.
The soldier, who has yet to be identified by name, was last seen inside the fortified U.S. administrative compound in central Baghdad on Monday afternoon, after which he was believed to have left to visit relatives in the city.
He was reportedly at a relative's house when three cars pulled up and was grabbed by masked men who handcuffed him and forced him into one of the vehicles. One of the men then called a relative with the soldier's cell phone, the military said. It didn't say whether a ransom demand was made.
• Visit FOXNews.com's Iraq Center for more in-depth coverage.
Defense officials said the soldier, who was a linguist of American-Iraqi descent with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Baghdad, was believed to have been abducted because he was seen being taken away. It was not clear who witnessed this.
A security cordon was thrown up by U.S. and Iraqi forces around Karradah on Monday and maintained through Tuesday as U.S. soldiers carrying photocopies of the man's photograph searched houses and buildings across the area, which lies in a bend in the Tigris river.
The last time U.S. soldiers were reported missing was in June, when two soldiers were abducted during an attack on their checkpoint in Baghdad. The soldiers were later found dead, their bodies brutalized, the military said. One of the soldiers had been beheaded.
Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for killing the soldiers, and said the successor to terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had "slaughtered" them, according to a Web statement that could not be authenticated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/u-s-military-suspects-in-missing-soldier-case-detained