Soldier missing in Iraq may have ties to Douglas County

According to KOLO News Channel 8 in Reno, one of three American soldiers that went missing after their patrol was ambushed in Iraq over the weekend may have ties to Douglas County.

Channel 8 said that a military official in Nevada said one of the missing soldiers has ties to Nevada, and specifically mentioned the Douglas County area. Channel 8 also said the family of the soldier had been notified.

According to the Associated Press, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops swept through farmhouses, fields and palm groves south of Baghdad in hopes of finding the soldiers - last seen before a pre-dawn attack Saturday in an area considered a stronghold of Sunni extremists. Four Americans and one Iraqi soldier were killed in the ambush.

For a third day, jets, helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft crisscrossed the skies over the sparsely populated farm area near Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi troops - backed by dog teams - searched vehicles and pedestrians. Other teams peered into crawl spaces and probed for possible secret chambers in homes.

In a Web posting, the Islamic State of Iraq, an insurgent alliance that includes al-Qaida, demanded that the Americans stop the search because it will "lead to nothing but exhaustion."

"Your soldiers are in our hands. If you want their safety, do not search for them," the statement said.