http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4684713
NBC News and news services
Updated: 4:28 p.m. ET April 13, 2004NBC News has learned that bodies of at least four men believed to be among the seven civilian contractors missing in Iraq since Friday were found Tuesday in a shallow grave near the site of the explosion of a convoy in which they were traveling.
The four are among seven civilians and two U.S. soldiers missing after an attack on Friday.
Officials in both Baghdad and Washington told NBC News that the bodies were found near the intersection of highways 1 and 10 on the road between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, very close to the site of the explosion. Officials say they were directed to the site by an Iraqi who told coalition authorities that Americans were buried there.
The bodies were "mutilated beyond recognition," according to two officials, but there was no agreement as to whether the mutilation was a result of the fire that consumed the convoy or was carried out after the attack and fire. One official said the number of bodies could not be precisely confirmed because of their condition.