Final Dispatch: Steven Vincent Killed

This morning there was a knock on my door delivering news:

On Wednesday, an American freelance journalist was found dead in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the U.S. Embassy said.

Police said Steven Vincent had been shot multiple times after he and his Iraqi translator were abducted at gunpoint hours earlier.

I had just contacted Steven asking when he might come to Mosul. Steven Vincent was an author and the popular blogger of "In The Red Zone." Steven had been writing most recently from Basra. Apparently the translator was shot but survived the attack.

It was also reported that Steven's death brings to approximately 66 the number of journalists and their helpers killed during this war.