LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Friends and family of a Lawrence soldier missing in Iraq say they remain hopeful, despite disturbing claims from an Iraqi militant group that Alex Jimenez and another U.S. soldier are now dead.

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that many yellow ribbons are decorating doorfronts around the city of Lawrence, and outside Jimenez' home, American flags and a Dominican flag festoon the front porch.

Jimenez' family members in Massachusetts and New York are not giving up hope, despite the release of a terrorist video Monday that claimed Jimenez is dead.

His mother, Maria Duran, spoke to reporters in Queens, N.Y., Monday, saying "What I am feeling is something very strong, and very painful."

The video released by an Iraqi insurgent group showed credit and military ID cards purportedly belonging to Jimenez, 25, and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich. The body of a third soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was found in the Euphrates River May 23, 11 days after their unit was ambushed south of Baghdad.

The three U.S. soldiers were abducted as they were participating in an operation to watch for insurgents placing roadside bombs on a dangerous road near Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The militants breached the concertina wire surrounding the stationary outpost composed of two Humvees, killing four other American troops and an Iraqi.

"His ID. That's what they have shown up to now. And all I ask is that God gives me strength," Duran said.

But the video failed to provide hard evidence that the soldiers are dead and the U.S. military has vowed to keep searching for them.

Jimenez and his family share a two-family in Lawrence with Wendy Luzon's family.

"We believe that Alex and the other soldier is alive. That's what we've chosen to believe," Luzon said.

She said Jimenez' father, who has been waiting for word of his son at Fort Drum, N.Y., plans to return to Lawrence for a weekend prayer vigil.