Official: Tape Seems to Show Pfc. Maupin's Execution

June 29, 2004 -- Family and friends of Army Pfc. Keith "Matt" Maupin are holding out hope that he is still alive and will return home safely after his parents were informed that there may be a videotape showing his execution.

The parents of the 20-year-old soldier, held hostage in Iraq since April, were informed Monday about the videotape. A senior military official told ABC News a tape was delivered to the Arab television network Al-Jazeera that appears to show a blindfolded Maupin in a dark room being shot in the head.

Publicly the military remains very cautious. The senior official told ABC News there is no confirmation because no body has been located, but said military officials believe "it's him."

Hours after learning about the tape, friends and relatives of Maupin gathered for a candelight vigil in Batavia, Ohio, to pray for his safe return.

"Since we don't know anything, we might as well show everybody that we care about them and if the worst did happen, then our sympathies," said Maupin family friend Virginia Blanchard.

Amid yellow ribbons and lit candles, friends of Maupin want to believe that he is still alive and is not the man in the tape.

"[I just have] hope. Just a lot of hope," said Melissa Angst. "And I believe that he will come home safe and sound."

Maupin, a reservist from Ohio, was taken captive west of Baghdad after the convoy he was riding in was attacked on April 9. Maupin and another soldier, Sgt. Elmer Krause, were missing after the attack, as were several civilian contractors.

Krause and four of the contractors were later found dead. One of the contractors, truck driver Thomas Hamill, managed to escape, while two other truckers in the same convoy remain missing.

Just a week ago, Maupin's parents met with President Bush on Air Force One during the president's fund-raising tour in Ohio.

Turks Freed

Meanwhile, the family of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, 24, continue to await word his fate while an extremist group responsible forbeheading two foreign hostages freed three Turkish captives held hostage in Iraq today.