HomeFive US Marines missing off the coast of Japan for nearly a week declared dead

Five US Marines missing off the coast of Japan for nearly a week declared dead

4 December 11, 2018 | by Junie Sihlangu

Last week Thursday, two warplanes crashed off the coast of Japan. Seven US Marines went missing during the incident.

Two of them were found with one being declared dead. Now the results for the five last remaining Marines have been revealed. 

Late on Monday, the US Marines revealed that one marine was rescued last Wednesday. The body of another one was found and he was declared dead.

The crash last week occurred between an F/A-18 jet and a refueling plane off the coast of Japan. The Marine Corps KC-30 refueling tanker had taken off from a base on Okinawa for a regularly scheduled training mission.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Captain Jahmar F. Resilard, 28, of Miramar, Florida, was the first Marine who was pronounced dead.

On December 6, his body was found off the coast of Kochi, Japan. He had served as an F/A-18 pilot with Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, stationed on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi, Japan.

Resilard was one of two crew members found by the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces. The other Marine was described as being in fair condition.

On Tuesday, the US military called off its search for the Marines, according to a statement from the Marine Expeditionary Force. They said:

"The Marine Corps has pronounced the five remaining Marines involved in the F/A-18 and KC-130 aviation mishap deceased. The change in status comes at the conclusion of search and rescue operations."

The identities of the Marines have not yet been released, but their next of kin have been notified. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, gave a statement.

He said:

"Every possible effort was made to recover our crew, and I hope the families of these selfless Americans will find comfort in the incredible efforts made by the US, Japanese, and Australian forces during the search."

US, Japanese, and Australian forces all worked together to conduct more than 800 hours of air and maritime search operations. They covered more than 35,000 square miles of ocean during their search.

In an unrelated case, US Marine Cpl. Rodolfo Rivera, 24, was accused of murdering his wife, Lance Cpl. Natasha Rivera, 20. On November 3, Arlington County police responded to a 911 call from Rivera where he allegedly told dispatchers that he may have killed his wife in a blacked-out state.

He was charged with murder and remains at the Arlington County Detention Facility without bond.

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