3 missing US soldiers found dead in Lithuania, search continues for 4th soldier
Three of the four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a training mission near Pabradė, Lithuania, last week were found dead on Monday, but the search is ongoing for the fourth soldier, the Army said.
Their identities were not released.
The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were in when they went missing was removed from a swamp early Monday morning after six days of work to retrieve it, the Army said.
The soldiers, who are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, went missing on Tuesday during a training exercise, the Army said.
On Wednesday, their 63-ton vehicle was found submerged in about 15 feet of water and "clay-like mud" in a training area, the Army said.
"Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp," and the vehicle "may have just gone diagonally to the bottom," Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone last week.
The multiday search effort was complicated by the swamp's muddy conditions, officials said.
The Army said last week it brought in assets including "a large capacity slurry pump, cranes, more than 30 tons of gravel, and subject matter experts."
"The Polish Armed Forces have also volunteered a unit of military engineers, which is bringing in an additional water pump, tracked recovery vehicles, other additional equipment and supplies needed along with 150 personnel," the Army said.
U.S. Navy divers arrived at the site this weekend, and on Sunday night they "maneuvered through thick layers of mud, clay, and sediment with zero visibility to reach the vehicle and hook steel cables that were attached to two [recovery vehicles]," the Army said.
It took about two hours of hoisting the cables to retrieve the soldiers' vehicle from the bog, the Army said.
"The dive team has since transitioned to gridding out the area to enable a systematic search and the team is using a ground penetrating radar provided by Lithuanian experts to assist in the ongoing recovery operations," the Army said Monday.
"The Soldiers we have lost in this tragedy were not just Soldiers -- they were a part of our family," Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, said in a statement Monday.
"The search isn’t finished until everyone is home," Norrie added. "Words cannot express our gratitude to those still working around the clock during these extensive search and recovery efforts."
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, the Army said.
