DENVER -- A Navy SEAL from Colorado has been identified as one of the missing SEALS found dead in Afghanistan this week.

The body of 25-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz was found dead Monday in Kunar Province, along with Lt. Michael P. Murphy of Patchogue, N.Y.

They were part of an elite four-member commando team that disappeared June 28 while conducting counterterrorism operations.

One team member was rescued, but a fourth is still missing.

Dietz' wife, Maria Dietz, issued this statement Wednesday:

As I sit here in the house once shared with my husband, I am consumed in thoughts of pain and confusion about the loss of the most special and important man in my life. I want the world to know that Danny P. Dietz was not just my husband, but he was my other half, my friend, my role model, and my hero. The same day he left for Afghanistan, as tears rolled down my cheeks, he told me with sparkles in his eyes, "All the training I have underwent for years is going to pay off with this trip, and I am going to do something special for this country and for my team."

I never thought that was going to be the last time that my lips, my hands, and eyes would have contact with him. Although, I was not ready to let God take him away from me, I know my husband gave all he could to make his way back to me. He probably wouldn't have wanted to do die any other way, but only trying to protect his fellow teammates and his country.

I have lost my soul mate, but truly my soul mate is not lost, he is waiting to see me one day again.

I want the world to know that it has lost an incredible man, an outstanding Navy SEAL, and a hero. People around the world don't hear much about the U.S. Naval Special Forces men and what they do for this country, but as a proud SEAL Team wife, I can tell that the world as a whole owes those men more than what it can imagine. I just don't have words to describe them.

Dietz graduated from Heritage High School in 1999. He was active in sports his senior year. Teachers recalled that had already set his sights on becoming a SEAL then.

"He was in the weight room a lot and worked hard to become an excellent swimmer, knowing that was a skill critical to his future success," school district spokeswoman Diane Leiker said in a statement.

Dietz was assigned to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two, based at Virginia Beach, Va. Murphy was assigned to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One, based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

A transport helicopter sent to rescue the four was shot down the day the team vanished, killing all 16 U.S. servicemen aboard.