Police Find Body of Missing Russian Colonel

Police in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, said they had found the body of a Russian colonel who had been missing since late July.

The body of Igor Zaitsev, an officer with Russia’s general staff in the Caucasus, was identified by relatives after it was found on the outskirts of Tbilisi, officials said.

A forensic expert said Zaitsev was hit on the head with a heavy object. Shortly after the 52-year-old officer disappeared July 27, Russian media reported that he could have been kidnapped by Chechen rebels hoping to exchange him for prisoners taken by Russian troops during operations in the guerrillas’ separatist republic.