FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) — A 10th Mountain Division soldier missing since his unit was attacked by insurgent forces in May 2007 has been promoted to the rank of sergeant, Fort Drum officials said Wednesday.

In keeping with long-standing Army policy, Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez' family will receive all entitlements due retroactively to June 26, 2007, the date of his promotion, according to a post news release. Soldiers who are missing or captured are promoted as their time in rank and service make them eligible, the statement said.

Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., were seized May 12 when insurgents attacked and overran a checkpoint in a volatile area south of Baghdad.

A third soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., was also captured during the raid, but his body was found May 23 floating in the Euphrates River. Four other U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi soldier were killed during the attack.

The Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaida, claimed in an Internet video earlier this year that the three missing soldiers were killed and buried. The militants showed images of the military IDs of Jimenez and Fouty but offered no proof that they were dead.

In late December, U.S. forces said they had seized two men possibly linked to the soldiers' capture. The military said one of the suspects was thought to have "facilitated" the attack and to have used his house to hide the soldiers. A weapon belonging to one of the U.S. soldiers was found at the residence of the other suspect.