Last US soldier found dead after Lithuania training accident
The Army released the identities of the three soldiers recovered Monday, but the fourth soldier's name has not been made public as family notifications continue. They were Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam. The soldiers, part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle were reported missing a week ago, the Army said.
"This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier,' Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement Tuesday. "Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.' Hundreds of Lithuanian and U.S. soldiers and rescuers took part in the search through the thick forests and swampy terrain around Pabradė, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of the border with Belarus.
The 63-ton (126,000-pound) armored vehicle was discovered March 26 submerged in 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water, but it took days to pull it out of the bog. Lithuanian armed forces provided military helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and search and rescue personnel. They brought in additional excavators, sluice and slurry pumps, other heavy construction equipment, technical experts and several hundred tons of gravel and earth to help the recovery. Navy divers maneuvered through thick layers of mud, clay and sediment with zero visibility to reach the vehicle Sunday evening and attach steel cables so it could be pulled out. When just three of the four bodies were found, the divers began a search of the bog area for the fourth.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Arab Times
Indian police arrest suspected scammer running fake embassy near New Delhi
NEW DELHI, July 23, (AP): Indian police have arrested a man accused of running a bogus embassy from a rented residential building near the capital, New Delhi, and recovered cars with fake diplomatic plates. The suspect impersonated an ambassador and allegedly duped people for money by promising overseas employment, said senior police officer Sushil Ghule of Uttar Pradesh state's special task force in northern India. According to police, Harshvardhan Jain, 47, claimed to have acted as an adviser or ambassador to entities such as "Seborga' or "Westarctica.' Police recovered multiple doctored photographs showing Jain with world leaders, and fake seals of India's foreign ministry and nearly three dozen countries, Ghule said. Jain was also suspected of illegal money laundering through shell companies abroad, he said. He is also facing charges of forgery, impersonation and possessing fake documents. Police recovered four cars bearing fake diplomatic plates and nearly 4.5 million Indian rupees ($52,095) and other foreign currencies in cash from Jain's rented premises, which were adorned with international flags of several nations. Jain or his lawyer couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
Arab Times
3 days ago
- Arab Times
Police arrest 11 suspects over 'honor killing' of newlywed couple in Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan, July 21, (AP): Police in southwestern Pakistan arrested 11 suspects after a video went viral, showing a young couple murdered for marrying without their families' approval, authorities said Monday. The disturbing footage caused an uproar in the country, with activists demanding swift justice and a stop to so-called honor killings, where family members target women who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their choosing. The video, which surfaced over the weekend on social media and was viewed by The Associated Press, showed a man executing the young couple at close range in daylight as others stood by. Police confirmed the authenticity of the footage, saying the killings happened in the Deghari district in the province of Balochistan, said Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti In the video, several men arrive in pickup trucks in a mountainous region, and a young woman, speaking the local language, says she is legally married. "Come, walk seven steps with me, and then you can only shoot me,' she says. It isn't clear what she meant. A man follows her, takes out a gun and shoots her three times before she collapses on the ground. He then shoots and kills her husband before another man takes out a gun and joins him in shooting the groom. The video ends with both victims lying bloodied on the ground. Local police identified the bride and groom only as Bano Bibi and Ahsan Ullah and released some of the suspects' names, saying the provincial government had initiated the investigation as none of the couple's family members came forward. "The bravery shown by the slain woman is both humbling and remarkable, as she neither begged for her life nor showed any weakness,' said Farhatullah Babar, a Pakistani human rights activist. He condemned the couple's killing and called for strict punishment for everyone involved in the "brutal murder of the newlywed couple.' A tribal elder, Sardar Satakzai, ordered the couple killed after the bride's brother complained she married without his consent, said police chief, Naveed Akhtar. Both were among the 11 arrested in a series of raids and authorities were looking for nine more suspects, he said. The video was shot and posted by an unidentified person, Akhtar said. Honor killings are still common in Pakistan.
Arab Times
4 days ago
- Arab Times
Libya deports 700 Sudanese migrants in crackdown on trafficking
CAIRO, July 20, (AP): Eastern Libyan authorities have sent hundreds of Sudanese back to their war-torn home country, officials said Saturday, in a crackdown on migrants seeking to flee conflict and poverty for Europe by way of the the Mediterranean nation. Seven hundred Sudanese who were detained recently in central and southeastern Libya, were deported Friday by land to Sudan, the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration in eastern Libya said in a statement. The statement said some of the deportees suffered from infectious diseases including hepatitis and AIDS. Others were deported because of either criminal convictions or "security reasons,' it said, without elaborating. The deportation was part of an ongoing crackdown campaign on migrant trafficking in eastern Libya, which is controlled by forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter. Last week, the coast guard in eastern Libya said it intercepted a boat carrying 80 Europe-bound migrants off the eastern city of Tobruk. The campaign includes raids on trafficking hubs across eastern and southern Libya. A raid earlier this month freed 104 Sudanese migrants, including women and children, who were held in a trafficking warehouse in the town of Ajdabiya, about 480 miles (800 kilometers) east of the capital, Tripoli, according to town security authorities. Libya has in recent years become a transit point for those fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, and seeking a better life in Europe. Human traffickers have benefited from more than a decade of instability, smuggling migrants across Libya's borders with six nations, including Chad, Niger, Sudan Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. The North African country was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Oil-rich Libya has been ruled for most of the past decade by rival governments in eastern and western Libya, each backed by an array of militias and foreign governments. Thousands of Sudanese have fled to Libya since their country plunged into chaos in April 2023 after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group exploded into street fighting across the country. They are among the more than 240,000 Sudanese migrants who live in Libya, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
