TORRANCE, Calif. -- A Torrance soldier who was mistakenly rumored to have died in Iraq last month was identified Tuesday as one of four soldiers who were either killed or captured during a weekend al-Qaida ambush south of Baghdad.

Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, was listed by the Department of Defense as "Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown."

Four soldiers were killed and three others were missing and feared captured in the wake of the Saturday ambush near Mahmoudiya.

The Department of Defense identified three of the soldiers who were killed in the attack as Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tenn.; Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Nashville, Mich.; and Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, Va.

The four other soldiers, one of whom was killed, were identified as Anzack; Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.; Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.; and Sgt. Anthony J. Schober, 23, of Reno, Nev. The Pentagon did not immediately identify which of the soldiers had been killed.

The soldiers were members of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based out of Fort Drum, N.Y.

Anzack's father, Joseph Anzack Sr., said Tuesday he was trying to keep his spirits up, but he asked for people's prayers.

"I just know that three are missing and my son is one of them,'' he told ABC7. "Found out Sunday, on Mother's Day, that he was missing. It wasn't a very good Mother's Day, but, you know, we're all pulling together and what we're asking for is everybody's prayers.

"We're asking for everybody's prayers to help my son, the people who are missing, everybody involved -- their families, the people that are over there, our sons and daughters that are fighting for our country so we can have this freedom of speech.''

It was just three weeks ago that Anzack's relatives in Torrance were breathing sighs of relief after learning that rumors of his death that circulated last month turned out to be false. The rumors even prompted students at his high school to put a message on its marquee reading, "In Loving Memory -- Joseph Anzack -- Class of 2005.''

It was unclear how the rumors -- which spread rapidly on the MySpace Web site -- began, but Anzack put them to rest when he called home to tell his family he was alive.

"I knew in my heart he wasn't gone because I didn't feel him being gone,'' Joseph Anzack Sr. told the Daily Breeze last month. ``But I was worried, to say the least."

Members of the Anzack family told the newspaper the unfounded rumors were "terrible," "horrifying" and "bizarre."

"It was the worst day of my life," said grandmother Betty Anzack, the first relative to hear the report.

"I was absolutely devastated thinking (Joe) was gone,'' aunt Dawn Ayers told the newspaper. "Where he is and all the events there, it was really easy to believe it.''

Joseph Anzack Sr. told the paper his son had been pulled off patrol to reassure his dad directly.

"He called and said, "Hey Dad," and I said, 'Whoa, I'm glad to hear from you.' I had a big old sense of relief,'' his father said. "There's so much stuff I want to do with my son ... and that was gone for a while there.''