Missing Fort Hood Soldier month away from discharge listed as AWOL

Family and friends searching for missing Fort Hood soldier

KWTX News
By Brandon Hamilton
Aug 24, 2019

FORT HOOD, Texas (KWTX) Family and friends of a missing Fort Hood soldier are actively searching, hoping for his safe return.

Gregory Wedel-Morales, according to his family, was last seen Monday night.

His family says they have filed missing persons reports with Fort Hood and the Killeen Police Department.

Fort Hood confirmed to News 10 that Morales has been placed on Absent Without Leave status since Aug. 20.

"His chain of command is in touch with his family seeking his whereabouts," officials said.

His mother, Kim Wedel, posted on Facebook that he just purchased a black 2018 Kia Rio.

"He is scheduled to process out of the military in September so going AWOL just doesn’t make sense," she said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact local authorities.
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Fort Carson Missing Soldier Found Safe

Missing Fort Carson soldier found alive

KKTV News
By Tony Keith/Lindsey Grewe
Apr 17, 2019

"The soldiers of our brigade are tremendously relieved that our Soldier has been recovered safely," said Col. Dave Zinn, commander of 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

FORT CARSON, Colo. (KKTV) - A Fort Carson soldier who went missing Monday night has been found alive, the Mountain Post confirms.

The soldier had been participating in the "Expert Field Medical Badge competition" and was last seen on foot at the Fort Carson Land Navigation course, which is on the southeastern corner of the post near Pueblo West. The last time someone reported seeing the soldier was about 9:45 p.m. on Monday.

More than 1,700 soldiers, along with Directorate of Emergency Services personnel, and search rescue teams from El Paso, Fremont and Douglas counties took part in a ground search. Additionally, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Inf. Div., and Flight for Life helicopters searched from the air.
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Soldier Missing Five Rescued After Black Hawk Crash in Yemen

U.S. Black Hawk Helicopter Crashes off Yemen Coast, One Crew Member Missing

Associated Press

August 26, 2017

A U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter crashed off the southern coast of Yemen while training its crew, leaving one service member missing, officials said.

Five others aboard the aircraft were rescued, officials said in a statement issued by U.S. Central Command.

The crash took place Friday evening. Officials said the accident was under investigation.

Asked if the crash involved another special forces raid, Central Command told The Associated Press that "this was a routine training event specifically for U.S. military personnel."

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Search Suspended for Black Hawk Missing Soldiers

Missing soldiers identified as Coast Guard ends search for Black Hawk crew

By Star-Advertiser staff

August 21, 2017

Coast Guard officials announced today that they are suspending the nearly week-long active search for five Army aviators who went missing Tuesday night when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the ocean about 2 miles west off of Kaena Point.

The Army also formally identified the crew members today as:

1st Lt. Kathryn M. Bailey, 26, of Hope Mills, N.C.;

 Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brian M. Woeber, 41, Decatur, Ala.

 Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stephen T. Cantrell, 32, Wichita Falls, Texas

Staff Sgt. Abigail R. Milam, 33, Jenkins, Ky.

 Sgt. Michael L. Nelson, 30, Antioch, Tenn.

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And Then There Were 15 MIssing

Search Expanded for Missing Black Hawk Crew

Big Island Now

August 20, 2017

Responders searched throughout the night Saturday and are continuing the search Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017, for the five Army aviators who went missing Tuesday night approximately two miles west of Ka‘ena Point.

Search and rescue planners have also reached out to the residents of Ni’ihau Island to conduct searches along their shoreline.

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Ten sailors missing after U.S. warship, tanker collide near Singapore
REUTERS

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ten U.S. sailors were missing after a collision between a destroyer and a tanker near Singapore on Monday, the second involving a U.S. warship and a merchant ship in Asia in about two months, triggering a fleet-wide probe of operations and training.

The guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided while the warship was heading to Singapore for a routine port call. The collision tore a hole in the warship's waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area, the U.S. Navy said.

"Initial reports indicate John S. McCain sustained damage to her port side aft," it said in a statement. "There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured."

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson would conduct a broad investigation into U.S. naval operations after the collision.
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Solider's Mom Wants to Make Sure Other Families Don't Have to Wait

Mother tries to change military protocol after son's death at Fort Hood
Indy Star
Kara Berg
April 15, 2017

Right now, when a soldier goes missing, the army conducts an inquiry to see where they may be, notifies the provost marshal within 24 hours, reports the soldier absent within 48 hours and notifies the next of kin if the soldier is still missing after 10 days.

When Patrice Wise's son was found dead, she didn’t know how to move on.

The Arlington, Indiana, woman remembers the sleepless nights her and her fiancé spent searching for her son, Dakota Stump, who was a soldier on an Army base in Fort Hood when he disappeared. When his body was found in a wooded area, around 100 yards from the road at the base, the days and nights dragged on.

“I’ve tried so many things to keep myself busy and not constantly be reminded of what happened,” Wise said. “It helps, but I don’t think a mother ever gets over losing a child.

“I feel like every day that goes by, it almost gets worse."

Stump's body was discovered next to his flipped-over vehicle by soldiers conducting land-navigation training. He was only 32 pounds when he was found after a month, Wise said. Investigators believe the vehicle left the road, entered the wooded area and rolled over multiple times. The terrain hid the vehicle from the road.
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Remains of Combat Medic Will Naugle Found by Hikers

Family: Body of missing U.S. Army reservist found
KOIN 6 News Staff
Published: February 20, 2017

Will Naugle was last seen on January 26

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The body of a missing U.S. Army reservist has been found, according to family members.

Will Naugle was last seen on January 26. He was scheduled to report for annual training and vanished.

Naugle was a combat medic and connected to the U.S. Army Reserves at Camp Whithycombe in Clackamas.

The reservist’s family said he was found dead at Powell Butte in Crook County. The family also said they believe Naugle committed suicide.

Naugle’s body was found by hikers, and it is being turned over to a funeral home.
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Body of Missing Minnesota National Guard Soldier Found

Body Of Military Member, Joel Costa, Discovered
FOX 21 News
by Dan Hanger
February 12, 2017

DULUTH, Minn – Just before 9 p.m. Sunday, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office notified the media that the body of missing Minnesota National Guard member Joel Costa, 32, had been found.

The discovery happened around 7 p.m. on a rural road just north of Duluth. Costa’s vehicle, comparable to the picture below, was also found at that location, according to authorities.

The cause of death will be determined by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.

No foul play is suspected, according to the Sheriff’s office.
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Remains Identified of Missing Fort Campbell Soldier

TBI: Remains identified as missing Fort Campbell soldier 
Beaver 1003 FM by Nick Fox
Posted on January 25, 2017 

ROBERTSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – The skeletal remains found Monday in Robertson County have been positively identified as Pfc. Shadow McClaine.

The Fort Campbell soldier went missing on Sept. 2, 2016 and was never seen or heard from again. read more here

Fort Bliss Wasn't Looking for Two Missing Soldiers?

Two soldiers are missing. Their families say the Army refused to look for nearly two weeks
Washington Post
By Avi Selk
January 5, 2016

Pfc. Jake Obad-Mathis (center) in a family photo after his enlistment in 2015. He

and Pfc. Melvin Jones have been missing from their base for more than two weeks.

(Courtesy of Carin Obad)

As his mother describes him, Jake Obad-Mathis does not look like most soldiers.

At age 20, after more than a year in the Army, he is still thin and small. He stands a head shorter than most of his comrades at Fort Bliss, Tex. He’s shy and talks with a slight stutter.

Or so he did, before the private first class disappeared Dec. 19.

If you have seen her son, Carin Obad would like to know. She has been searching for him for more than two weeks.

So has the family of his friend, Pfc. Melvin Jones, who disappeared on the same day from the same base.

Now — after nearly two weeks of rejections, excuses and abrupt dial tones from police and military brass, Obad said — the Army is finally looking, too.
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Fort Hood Soldier's Family Wants Missing Warrior Alert

Family of Fort Hood soldier who went missing wants "warrior alert" law
KCEN
Jim Hice
November 22, 2016

FORT HOOD - The family of a Fort Hood soldier who was missing for more than three weeks before he was found dead on post wants a version of the Amber Alert law, called a "Warrior Alert," when soldiers go missing.

Dakota Stump's mother, Patrice Wise, started an online petition on November 14th entitled "Dakota's Law."

Its aim is to "change Standard Operating Procedures on how Law Enforcement and Military handle situations when our Veterans and Active Duty Members go missing."

"I have no ulterior motive except to stop another soldier or family from having to go through what I'm probably going to have to go through for the rest of my life," Wise said.

Stump went missing October 10, 2016. Soldiers conducting land-navigation training found his body 24 days later next to his flipped over vehicle near building 43028 on Fort Hood.

Law enforcement officials believe that Stump's car veered off the road into the parallel wooded area and then rolled over multiple times.

Stump's family maintains that law enforcement and the military assumed he was AWOL.
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Missing Soldier Alert: Fort Hood

Family confirms missing Fort Hood soldier found dead
KVUE ABC News
Jim Hice and Katie Grovatt
November 4, 2016

FORT HOOD - A family member of missing Fort Hood PVT Dakota Stump confirmed to Channel 6 News Friday that he had been found dead on post.

Fort Hood officials said Stump's remains were found next to his flipped-over vehicle 100 yards from the roadway near Building 43028 on Fort Hood.

Soldiers conducting land-navigation training found his body approximately at 11:50 a.m. Thursday.
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The Army needs your help finding a missing Fort Hood soldier
Army Times
By: Meghann Myers
October 14, 2016

Pvt. Dakota Stump has been missing since Monday, and his family and chain of command need your help.

Stump, 19, an infantryman assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, is missing from Fort Hood, Texas, a spokesman confirmed to Army Times Friday.

The 1st Cavalry Division is exhausting all resources to look for him, Master Sgt. Jacob Caldwell told Army Times. Leadership has contacted local police, hospitals and is in contact with his mother, brother and girlfriend in addition to monitoring his barracks room.

Stump's cellphone is ringing, but there is no answer, Caldwell said.

"They spoke with soldiers who work directly with Pvt. Stump to see if there was any change in his demeanor or mood that they could make sense of why he would go missing," he added.
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Staff Sgt. Halex Hale Still Missing

UPDATE

Italian police examine body in search for missing US airman
Virginia Pilot
July 11, 2016

MILAN (AP) — Italian authorities are investigating whether a body found in the Adriatic Sea could be related to the disappearance of a U.S. airman some 40 kilometers (30 miles) away.

Missing Aviano airman may have drowned, police say
Stars and Stripes
By Nancy Montgomery
Published: July 11, 2016

VICENZA, Italy — The Aviano airman still missing for more than a week despite a massive search effort may have drowned, Italian police said.

Police — aided by dogs, divers, helicopters and volunteers — called off a three-day search on Sunday for 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Halex Hale. Assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, he was last seen when he left a friend’s house in Sacile, the small town near the base where Hale lived.

“The most plausible theory for now is that he was inebriated with alcohol, left the house and fell into one of the nearby canals, which were swollen due to particularly stormy weather,” Grigoletto Michele, the national police captain in charge of the search, told NBC News on Sunday.

That theory was disputed by Hale’s father, who traveled to Italy last week from his home in Indiana.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Lance Hale told the network. He said he’d walked the route his son was thought to have taken from the cookout, where he was last seen about 10 p.m.
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Soldier Came Home From Afghanistan Then Vanished

After Afghanistan, A Father Came Home — Then Disappeared 
NPR
SEPTEMBER 05, 2015

When he came back from Afghanistan, Army Pfc. Brian Orolin was eager to return to his life as a father and husband. But he had trouble holding on to a sense of purpose, his wife says. StoryCorps

After Army Pfc. Brian Orolin returned from Afghanistan in 2011, his wife Donna could tell something wasn't right.

He became paranoid and suffered constant headaches, and he would isolate himself in his bedroom with the lights dimmed.

Then, on November 19, Brian left his home, wife and two children in Spring, Texas. He's been missing ever since.

StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative records stories from members of the U.S. military who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. read more here

Family Searching for Missing Fort Carson Soldier

Family asks for help in search for AWOL soldier 
KRDO News
Greg Miller, Multimedia Journalist
May 22, 2015

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
A Chicago-area father is in Colorado Springs, desperately searching for his son.

Pvt. Daniel Domres is listed as AWOL from Fort Carson. His family is afraid his disappearance may be the result of a form of PTSD. And they're not the only ones with that concern.

“Just something happened, I don't know what it is” said Tom Domres, Daniel’s father. “I made a promise, said if something bad happens, I'd find him... that's why I'm here.”

Domres was stationed at Fort Carson after his nine-month tour in Afghanistan ended last year.

During his training and initial tour, he had a spotless record.

“He got along with leadership extremely well. They asked him to go Ranger 12 times asked him to go sniper scout,” Tom Domres said.

But then he deployed and the 20-year-old started acting differently.

“He withdrew from the guys in the unit,” he said. “He spent some time alone, there were a couple of incidents and I think he made some bad choices.”
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Soldier Missing In Utah Declared Dead After Three Years

Missing Soldier’s Family Receives Flag After Three Years
KFSM News
BY AMY SLANCHIK
NOVEMBER 1, 2014

RUSSELLVILLE (KFSM) — A local soldier who went missing outside of Salt Lake City three years ago and was never found was given military honors Saturday (Nov. 1) after being declared dead.

Joe Bushling was an Army Specialist in Dugway, Utah.

“We have concentrated all our money and all our efforts on this for the last three and a half years,” said his father, Kevin, beside his mother, Lisa.

He went missing on Mother’s Day in 2011 after going for a drive early in the morning.

Bushling left a voicemail with a friend, saying he was out of gas and needed help. He also mentioned that he was cold, and had lost his flip flops. His parents said he used the t-shirt he was wearing to protect his feet in the desert.

His parents made several trips to Utah to search for him.
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Family needs help finding missing Iraq veteran

Renewed search for missing young veteran

By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF
Jun 24, 2014 5:35 PM EDT

KENNESAW, Ga. - It has been nearly three months since an Iraq Veteran from Kennesaw disappeared without a trace. 26 year old Chase Massner was last seen in March at the QT on Bells Ferry Road. His family says he was never the same after serving in Iraq, but it is unlike him to disappear for so long.

Massner's mother-in-law has organized a search for Saturday at Shiloh Hills Baptist Church hoping it brings them a sense of closure.
go here and help find Chase Massner

Fort Lewis Soldier Missing After Facebook Post saying "Goodbye World"

Washington soldier missing after posting cryptic Facebook message
 Josh Warner, a mechanic at Fort Lewis Army base and married father of two boys, has been missing since posting a message on his Facebook page reading, 'Good bye world,' on Wednesday.
BY NINA GOLGOWSKI
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, May 26, 2014

A Washington soldier is missing after posting a chilling message on Facebook reading, "Good bye world."

Josh Warner, a mechanic at Washington's Fort Lewis Army base, has been missing since early Wednesday morning shortly after he kissed his wife and mother of his two kids goodbye, she told KOMO News.

"He woke me up to give me a hug and kiss goodbye and then there was cops at my door, pounding on my door," said Brandi Warner amid tears.

The mechanic for the 2nd Stryker Brigade and father of two young boys appeared to be going to work when he left their Spanaway home.
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Fort Sill Solider Missing After Kayak Accident

Fort Sill: Soldier missing after kayak mishap
Associated Press
Posted May 5, 2014

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) — Fort Sill authorities are searching for a soldier who went missing while kayaking at the Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area on post.

Officials at Fort Sill say two soldiers were on a one-person kayak Saturday night when the kayak became unbalance and flipped. Witnesses told investigators that one soldier was able to make it to shore while the other soldier submerged and never resurfaced.
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Solder from Australia missing in New York

With deep sadness, update

Body of missing Australian Paul McKay found in mountains of upstate New York; former solider suffered PTSD


UPDATE January 12, 2014

Australian soldier Paul McKay still missing in US

Aussie soldier Captain Paul McKay missing in frozen US
News.com Australia
JANUARY 12, 2014

US authorities are searching for a missing Australian Army soldier who was last seen in freezing conditions on New Year's Eve.

New York State police say the soldier, Captain Paul McKay, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Forest rangers and a special response team are conducting the search.

Captain McKay, an Afghanistan veteran, emailed his father from a Best Western motel in Saranac Lake on December 30 to say he was leaving him all his possessions, Fairfax Media reports.
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