The men were among six Western contractors kidnapped in separate incidents. Their disappearance received new attention earlier this month when the severed fingers of several men were sent to the U.S. military in Iraq.
The FBI identified the contractors Monday as Ronald Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo.
Withrow worked for JPI Worldwide when he was kidnapped in January 2007. Young worked for Crescent Security Group when he was kidnapped in November 2006.
The FBI said it had notified the families of the two men.
Withrow's mother, Barbara Alexander, said an FBI agent delivered news of her son's death Sunday night.
"You just can't really be prepared for any news like that, especially when you had hope that your son is alive," Alexander said by phone from her home in Afton, Texas. "I know he's safe from all harm now. We're bringing him home. That was what our main concern was. And that they're not going to hurt him anymore."
The other men still missing are: Paul Reuben, of Minneapolis; Jonathon Cote, of Getzville, N.Y.; Joshua Munns, of Redding, Calif.; and Bert Nussbaumer, of Vienna, Austria. A finger from each was received by the military recently. Young was abducted with those men but none of his fingers was sent to the U.S. military.
