Triangle of Death Hostage Search: Day 14

BYRON FOUTY WITH FRIEND IN IRAQ

It will be a somber Memorial Day weekend in Orion Township, Michigan with an adopted son still missing two weeks after being kidnapped in Iraq.

Yellow ribbons adorn streetlights and an American Legion memorial. A banner with a photograph of 19-year-old Private Byron Fouty hangs from a wall in the memorial with the words "Our Troops Our Prayers Together We'll Bring Them Home!"

Gordy Dibler Jr. spoke about his stepson, one of three men abducted in the May 12 ambush in the Triangle of Death:

"We have a warrior from our local community . . . that needs our hopes, our thoughts and our prayers for a safe return."

He also asked member of the tight-knit community to also pray for the other missing soldier, Specialist Alex Jimenez of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Taking deep breaths between measured words, Dibler told stories about Fouty.

About the time the playful boy broke his ankle trying to impress a girl by putting on a cape to fly off a jungle gym.

And the day he came home and saw a chair moving.

"I said, 'Where's Byron?' I leaned over and looked under the table and there he was with a butter knife and an open package of [hot] dogs that he'd been eating."

Among the many community members who listened to Dibler was Georgie Hicks, Fouty's former baby sitter, whom he affectionately knew as Grandma Georgie.

Said Hicks:

"He was a mischievous little boy. He loved his peanut butter and jelly. He was a delight. It's been real tough."

Added the Rev. Edward Jones of the Center of Light Spirituality Center, who led residents in prayer:

"Byron is a homegrown son, a warrior.

"Eventually we will know his presence and he will be returned to us safe, a new and powerful man and a leader in our community."

Specialist Alex Jimenez also remains missing. The third soldier, Private First Class Joseph R. AnzackJr., was found dead on Wednesday. Four other soldiers and an Iraqi Army translator died in the ambush.

* * * * *

Here's an index of previous Kiko's House reports on the ambush and search for the men:

Friday, May 25: Memorial Day Edition
Thursday, May 24: A Vigil For Joseph Anzack
Wednesday, May 23: A Body Is Found
Tuesday, May 22: Ambush Victims Come Home For Burial
Monday, May 21: Hopes Grow Slimmer
Sunday, May 20: A Flicker of Hope But the Trail Goes Cold
Saturday, May 19: The Triangle of Death Up Close
Friday, May 18: Who Are the Dead and Missing Men?
Thursday, May 17: Has the Search Impacted on the Surge?
Wednesday, May 16: Anatomy of An Abduction & Search

Photograph by Sgt. Michael Morse via The Associated Press