LAWRENCE — First, they heard that a body of a soldier was found in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad.

Then they learned that the body sported a tattoo, meaning it couldn’t possibly be Army Spc. Alex Jimenez, since the 25-year-old hates tattoos.

Then news came last night that it was the body of Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr. of California, who along with Jimenez was one of three soldiers taken captive and missing since a deadly roadside ambush earlier this month.

A second body was also found in the area, but there was no immediate word last night if it was also one of the missing soldiers, according to a U.S. military official who requested anonymity because the information has not yet been released.

Yesterday was a day of emotional ups and downs for Jimenez’s father, Ramon, known to friends as Andy, said Wendy Luzon, a close friend who has been acting as a spokeswoman for the family.

“It’s a roller coaster for him,” Luzon said.

The Jimenez family remained in Fort Drum, N.Y., yesterday where the Army’s elite 10th Mountain Division is based. The three soldiers are all members of the division’s 2nd Brigade.

Jimenez and his two comrades have been missing and presumed kidnapped by al-Qaida terrorists since May 12, when their unit was attacked in a pre-dawn ambush 20 miles south of Baghdad.

Up until yesterday, military officials had been expressing cautious optimism that all three could be found alive.

Yesterday’s news about Anzack, 20, of Torrance, Calif., made the search for Jimenez and the other missing soldier, Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., even more urgent. And it’s left people here feeling even more frustrated that there’s so little they can do to help.

Francisco Urena, the city’s veteran services director and a former Marine who served a tour as a tank commander in Iraq, said he could hardly contain himself as he awaited news.

“I just wish I could grab my pack and start searching for him myself,” he said.

Yesterday morning started with worries about a body found in the Euphrates River. An Iraqi man said he saw the half-naked body with head wounds and whip marks floating on its back in the river, and alerted the Iraqi police.

But it was quickly learned that the body had a tattoo on the left arm, meaning it couldn’t be Jimenez — the young man hates tattoos. Knowing that gave the family a glimmer of hope, Luzon says Alex’s father told her.

“The hope is very high that God is going to give Alex back to him,” she said.

Yet the news that one of the three soldiers was found dead and tortured, and that a second body may have been found still didn’t bode well for Jimenez.

State Rep. William Lantigua of Lawrence, another friend of the Jimenez family, said he was trying to treat reports like that as rumors until he hears official news from the family or from the military.

“Nothing has been confirmed by the Army,” he noted.

Lantigua, who talked to Andy Jimenez late yesterday afternoon, said that while relieved that the first body found was not his son, he is still inconsolable.

“He’s doing all right,” Lantigua said. “But any time you start to talk about the issue, about his son missing, he gets emotional. He starts crying.”

That’s why Luzon and her husband, Raul Polanco, try to keep things light when they talk to him, which is several times a day.

“We try to make him laugh,” she said. “We try to do anything to take his mind off this.”

Family members of the three soldiers are staying at an inn on base, said Ben Abel, a Fort Drum spokesman. Approximately 17,000 soldiers and 14,000 family members live there.

Each of the families is assigned a liaison officer, who updates them around the clock of any and all developments, Abel said. The entire base is focused on the plight of the missing soldiers.

“We are waiting like everyone else,” Abel said.

As Andy Jimenez awaits word about his son, his hope is bolstered by his faith in God, plus knowing that so many people back home are praying for his son, according to Luzon.

“He appreciates that,” she said. “He wants everyone to continue to pray for the three soldiers.”

Around the corner from his Albion Street home, Jimenez was on the minds of shoppers at the Bonanza Market on Jackson Street. Locals were talking about the missing soldier and the body being found as they stopped into the store to pick up milk and groceries and grab a bite to eat at the luncheonette out back.

“I really hope he comes back alive, but it’s all in God’s hands,” said Rosa Diaz, 30.

Carlos Figueroa is 23, just about the same age as Jimenez. He admires the man for his service to his country.

“I wouldn’t be able to do it,” he said.

When Samuel Diaz flipped on the morning news yesterday, the first thing he heard was that a soldier’s body was found in Iraq. Then he thought of Alex Jimenez and his family.

“I have a kid myself,” said Diaz, 35. “I can’t imagine what that’s like.”

But even if there’s a happy ending for Jimenez, at least one soldier’s family is facing a tragic loss today, Lantigua noted.

“We feel sorry for the family who will eventually be notified of that person,” he said.

The dead soldier’s aunt, Debbie Anzack, said it was her family that got the bad news last night, when military officials told them that a commanding officer had identified the body.

“They told us, ‘We’re sorry to inform you the body we found has been identified as Joe,” she said. “I’m in disbelief.”

Lantigua hopes today brings better news for the families of the other two soldiers.

“We don’t want any more bodies,” he said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.