LAWRENCE — The bodies of two U.S. soldiers, including Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez of Lawrence, missing in Iraq since being ambushed more than a year ago, have been recovered.

Military officials told Jimenez family members in Lawrence and New York yesterday evening that their son's remains, along with those of Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., were identified on Wednesday.

"I have lost all hope. Oh my God. I have lost all hope," Ramon "Andy" Jimenez of Lawrence said upon learning his son's fate.

Alex Jimenez, 26, had been missing since May 12, 2007.

Jimenez and Fouty were among three members of the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division captured by terrorists during an ambush south of Baghdad. Four other soldiers were killed in the attack.

The body of the third captured soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was later found in the Euphrates River.

Jimenez's father, a construction worker from Lawrence, was informed of his son's death by three uniformed military officials, including a chaplain, who went to his home.

Andy Jimenez was sitting on a couch in the living room of his basement apartment in North Lawrence as one of the officers, Danny Santiago, also of Lawrence, translated a letter into Spanish. It said that a medical examiner in Iraq positively identified the remains and that searchers also found personal items belonging to his son.

"It's hard when you lose someone, but I'm proud of Alex because he died doing something he loved," he said.

Army Chaplain Larry Bazer asked family members and friends gathered in the basement to hold hands as he offered a prayer.

Before the soldiers left, the grieving father told them, "I'm thankful and proud that Alex was one of you," he said in Spanish. "The support you've given me have made me feel I have never been alone."

"It's amazing how one life can affect the whole world," said family friend Mary McAlary of Andover. "He's an angel of peace and this has to stop."

Andy Jimenez had left his house without his cell phone yesterday and was unaware people were trying to contact him. Before the soldiers arrived at his home, his niece Ana Estrella of Lawrence told him the sad news.

"I felt terrible because who wants to do that, but you have to be strong," said Estrella.

Also providing support was his nephew, Jose Peralta of Lawrence, who found out the news when he got a call from another uncle in Florida.